The sauna and the student: he built it as his thesis project in architecture school - Home - Brief Article

Sunset, July, 2002 by Peter O. Whiteley

After studying wood construction and sauna design in Finland, Web Wilson returned to the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington to begin his thesis project. The result is the handsome building that now nestles into a wooded site on Whidbey Island. The 10- by 24-foot structure incorporates a sauna room with Finnish wood-fiber insulation and a wood-fired stove, and a deck covered with a roof of translucent polycarbonate panels.

Warm, woody tones and a lacy grid of lumber give the building its inviting look. Clear western cedar is used for the decking and siding, and the frame is made of sturdier Douglas fir. The enclosed, cube-shaped sauna room, which is suspended between the open frames, contrasts with the open, multilayered deck (for changing or sitting), where daylight filters through the roof structure and the bands of horizontal siding.

According to Wilson: "All the professors wanted to take saunas to unwind after their classes." Needless to say, Wilson got his degree.

DESIGN: Webster P. Wilson, Seattle (206/297-1653; www.mgwilson.com/sauna).

RELATED ARTICLE: Sauna specifics

A small wood-burning stove is the heat source that drives temperature levels up to the 160' to 200' range that sauna lovers seek. The sauna room here is an 8-foot cube, and the Finnish-made stove, a Saunatec Wilderness Series Model 18, includes a rock bin on the top over which water is sprayed for a quick blast of steam. Wilson ordered the $600 stove from Cedarbrook Sauna, Steam & Lumber (800/426-3929 or www.saunasauna.com).