Sauna Design and Sustainability: Harvia x EASA Rhizome Student Project
How Architecture Students Built a Modular Public Sauna in Finland, Showcasing Craft, Sustainability, and Hands-On Learning
In summer 2025, Savonlinna in Finland hosted hundreds of architecture students exploring one urgent question: how can we design buildings that respond to climate and biodiversity challenges? Among the many experimental projects, one stood out for its simplicity and impact: a public sauna, designed and built entirely by the students. For architects and designers, it’s a clear example of a structure that balances cultural tradition, usability, and sustainability. Modular and transportable, it had to be functional in a real-world setting while still teaching participants about construction, material choices, and community engagement. For us at Harvia, it was a chance to support a project that combines technical design, Finnish craftsmanship, and the values that make sauna a cultural cornerstone.
What EASA Is and Why This Matters
The European Architecture Students Assembly (EASA) brings students together from across Europe for two weeks of building, experimentation, and shared learning. In 2025, around 600 participants explored the theme Rhizome, examining how materials, building methods, and small-scale interventions can respond to environmental challenges.
Using local resources, compact designs, and practical methods, the idea of building a sauna fit naturally. It allowed students to engage with Finnish culture while experimenting with modular construction, sustainability, and user-centered design.
Why the Students Turned to Harvia
The sauna project team needed a sauna heater that was durable, safe, and capable of handling public use. They wanted a partner they could trust, with a solution that delivered consistent heat and authentic löyly for daily use.
We chose Harvia because wanted to highlight Finnish design and collaborate with a company whose values and goals we share.
Our extensive product portfolio also meant they could source everything - from the wood-burning heater to the interior details - in one place and focus on the build itself.
The Sauna Heater Choice: Harvia Pro 36 wood-burning heater
The sauna’s modular design required a heater that was compact but powerful. Without running water or electricity on site, a wood-burning heater was the most practical option. After reviewing requirements with our team, the students selected the Harvia Pro 36, which delivers steady heat and traditional löyly in a small footprint, making it ideal for public, high-use environments.
How the Sauna Was Built
The design was prepared in advance and refined with input from sauna experts. Everything had to be modular: cut, transported, and reassembled on Riihisaari Island, with views toward Olavinlinna Castle.
Over two weeks, students built the sauna by hand - cutting, assembling, adjusting, and problem-solving on site. Once completed, the sauna was gifted to the local sauna society, Riihisaaren Saunaseura, becoming part of their annual festival. Today, it remains open to the public, offering locals and visitors direct access to Finnish sauna culture in the heart of Savonlinna.
A Sauna That Kept Calling People Back
The sauna opened on the final day of the assembly, and participants returned in the following week simply to enjoy the space they had created. During the Riihisaari Sauna Festival, it hosted public sessions twice a week.
Visitors consistently highlight the same experience: a calm, warm environment that fosters conversation and reflection - illustrating how even a small, simple structure can create meaningful social and sensory impact.
Shared Values That Made the Partnership Work
The organisers selected partners aligned with their sustainability goals. Harvia’s focus on reducing emissions, choosing responsible materials, and optimizing energy efficiency matched the students’ priorities.
Harvia's sustainability goals such as using recycled materials, minimizing production-related emissions and optimizing energy efficiency showcase a strong will for more sustainable business and we were happy to contribute with such a company.
More importantly, both sides recognised sauna as a place that nurtures community. It gathers people, creates space to breathe, and reminds us that good craft and good company matter.
First Time in a Sauna? Here Are the Basics
We asked the EASA sauna project team what advice they have for anyone new to sauna. Below you can find some of their tips:
Bring water to drink after the sauna session
Respect the shared space
Agree together about nudity norms
Throw water on the stones with consideration for others
Step out or swim if you need to cool down
Most of all, relax and let the warmth do its work
The act of gathering strangers in the sauna proved to be one of the most unifying parts of the event. The heat, humidity and soundscape of a tight space, everyone facing the heater and watching the fire burn is both calming but also an intimate space
Hands-On Learning and a Sauna for the Future
This collaboration showed what happens when education, design, and sauna culture come together in a tangible, real-world way. Students gained hands-on skills, the local community received a public sauna that will serve them for years, and Harvia demonstrated its commitment to craftsmanship, sustainability, and Finnish cultural traditions by supporting a project rooted in care and shared experience.
It’s a reminder that sauna remains a space where people, ideas, and generations connect - quietly, warmly, and with purpose.