Finnish Olympic Sauna

Finnish Olympic Sauna

A prefabricated timber sauna building designed by Toivo Jäntti and manufactured by the Finnish company Puutalo Oy (Timber Houses Ltd). The building was first assembled in Richmond Park for the Finnish Olympic team in 1948, then moved to the Reed Paper Mill in 1949 and relocated to its present site by 1957.

The structure is single-storey and rectangular on plan, with a shallow-pitched roof of two different slopes reminiscent of a large cabin. External walls are constructed from prefabricated timber panels articulated with alternating vertical boards and grooves. The south-facing roof slope descends lower in its western half and is carried on square-section timber posts with slightly concave surfaces, forming a veranda. These posts are linked by a horizontal timber handrail of circular section. Timber rafters project beyond the eaves to support timber gutters. Gable ends and veranda sides are finished with timber bargeboards. The north roof slope descends slightly lower than the front to create a lower ceiling height over the sauna room. Two brick chimney stacks with oversailing corbel courses rise from the roof ridge, one serving a dressing room fireplace and the other the sauna heater. The south roof slope is covered with original wooden tiles, while the north slope is covered with felt, beneath which original tiles may survive. The building stands on a solid concrete platform with a rubble batter to the edges.

Fenestration comprises single-pane timber casement windows in painted frames that stand proud of the exterior walls. The front elevation features six windows beneath the veranda and three windows flanking the front door. Single windows appear on the east elevation and two on the north elevation, whilst the west elevation is blank. Original front and rear doors have narrow vertical timber boards and a small rectangular mesh-covered window at the top. A mounted timber-framed sign beneath the row of six front windows reads "FINNISH SAUNA BATH / LONDON 1948" with the Olympic rings and a Finnish flag inscribed "IV OLYMPIA" in red text.

The interior plan comprises a small lobby giving access to a dressing room on the left, a toilet and kitchen straight ahead, and a wet room and sauna to the right. A fuel store projects from the rear elevation.

Internal walls are mostly clad with horizontal timber boards positioned at angles to one another, creating textured surfaces with a sawtooth profile. The lobby, dressing room and kitchen feature original timber floor tiles beneath carpets, with ceilings of narrow timber boards throughout. Internal doors are painted timber with four or five rectangular panels.

The dressing room retains original fixed timber benches along two sides with original hooks above for clothes and towels. The fireplace has been infilled with modern tiles, though the timber surround, mantelpiece and red-brick chimney breast (laid in English bond and stepping towards the top) survive.

The kitchen contains original built-in cupboards with panelled doors in chamfered frames. One wall is partly of red brick laid in English bond, formed by the rear of the dressing room chimney breast.

The wet room features vertical timber boards up to dado rail level, with angled horizontal boards above. The north wall is partly clad in white tiles in the shower areas, but missing sections reveal original tiles beneath featuring floral designs set in geometric-pattern borders picked out in ochre and dark grey. The floor comprises plain tiles with a grated drainage channel across the centre and an original ceramic foot basin beneath one shower.

The sauna room door is probably original, constructed of narrow vertical timber boards with a timber rocker latch with rounded handles. The sauna walls are clad with vertical timber boards and the floor is exposed concrete with cut drainage channels. A three-tiered bench of slatted timber occupies most of the space; this is original but some elements have been replaced over time. An electric heater for the stones is a later addition. The sauna was originally heated by traditional wood fire, evidenced by a bricked-up opening in the rendered wall between the sauna and the former heating area in the adjacent hallway.