British DJ gives University of Westminster sauna a new home

Back in 2023, students from the School of Architecture + Cities along with tutors Dr David Scott and Francois Girardin joined hands with renowned Finnish architect Sami Rintala, and the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, to create a one-of-a-kind sauna. The Finnish sauna was exhibited in Victoria Embankment Gardens in central London, from 30 June until 8 July.

Now the co-founder of the south coast festival, Bestival, DJ Rob da Bank, has taken the sauna to the Isle of Wight, to help turn his dream of making the area into a sauna haven into a reality. The sauna’s new home will be at da Bank’s Slow Motion Sauna in Freshwater Bay, Yarmouth, which gives people the opportunity to practice contrast therapy, where people spend time in a sauna before they are submerged into freezing water. 

The design of the student’s Finnish Sauna was inspired by the London tube, and its architecture combined traditional sauna and Nordic boat-building methods. The sauna centres on a large-scale build and received generous support from Westminster City Council and from UPM who supplied the Finnish timber used in the project. 

The students who helped with the construction are part of Westminster’s Fabrication Lab in the Marylebone Campus. The specialist lab is focused on emerging technologies for architecture and the built environment, while also functions as an experimental centre for teaching, research and knowledge exchange.

Professor Harry Charrington, Head of School of Architecture + Cities, said: “It’s wonderful that the sauna has found a home at Bestival. While designing and making the building for the London Festival of Architecture was a key part of our students’ experience, equally, ensuring the project has a practical future reinforces the sustainability goals that are at the centre of the School’s practice”.

Find out more about the School of Architecture + Cities at the University of Westminster.