Tree trunks puncture the slim timber platforms of this minimalist sauna in a Japanese woodland, designed by native structure studio Daichi Inc.
Named Daichi Silent River Tree Sauna, the mission is nestled inside a forest in Kanagawa, southwest of Tokyo, and varieties a part of the Daichi Silent River retreat alongside visitor cabins and extra sauna areas.
Based on Daichi Inc, the concept for the mission was to make the timber really feel “a part of the structure itself”, utilizing them as each helps and the defining characteristic of the pared-back construction.
The sauna has been shortlisted within the Leisure and wellness class of Dezeen Awards 2026.
“Standard structure usually clears nature away, slicing down thick and powerful timber and reworking them into standardised constructing supplies,” mentioned the studio.
“On this mission, nevertheless, the prevailing timber have been preserved and used immediately as a part of the spatial framework, blurring the boundary between nature and the constructed atmosphere,” it added.
“Quite than inserting structure on prime of nature, the mission permits structure to coexist with it, creating an immersive bodily expertise wherein individuals really feel as if they’re dissolving into the forest itself.”
Daichi Silent River Tree Sauna’s construction includes two stacked timber decks and a roof, with the central platform partially supported by the location’s pure slope.
The skinny planes sit atop timber grids supported by the timber themselves and punctured by small round cut-outs via which their trunks can develop.
Timber steps join these completely different platforms, culminating on the higher stage the place the central sauna room sits, wrapped in frameless glass panels. It accommodates a wood bench and a central log burner.
Apart from the sauna room and a small plunge pool, the decks are left totally open and versatile, and are surrounded by slender steel balustrades at their edges.
“Wooden and glass have been used as the first supplies, whereas the prevailing timber themselves have been built-in into the architectural framework,” mentioned the studio.
“Decks and sauna areas have been rigorously positioned to look as if floating inside the forest,” it added. “The forest will not be handled as a backdrop, however capabilities as an important structural a part of the structure itself
Different saunas just lately featured on Dezeen embody Puusauna in Finland by architect Jaakko Torvinen, which is supported by entire, charred tree trunks sourced from the neighbouring forest, and an off-grid bathhouse in London.
Images by RiLi
Learn extra
