Grotto Sauna
The Grotto Sauna, designed by Toronto-based architects, Partisans is a private sauna in Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada. The building is and consists of a singular room with two sauna benches and two stoves with a large window looking out onto the water as well as a skylight. A waterside grotto is a subterranean chamber that is chapped and smoothed by receding water currents and the sauna is based directly on these waterside grottos as they are common to the site. Site and Site Preparation. The site of the sauna, being made up of Canadian Shield ancient rock  formations had to have a few cubic meters shaved/blasted off using dynamite with blasting caps in order to place the sauna's concrete foundation. Twelve inch wide footings were fastened to the rock using 24 inch long rods. Technology. A Leica 3D-scanning device was used on the site to collect 90 million data points after which, the scan was operated using Autodesk ReCap and the site was then modeled and built using Rhinoceros and Grasshopper. This model of the 3D-scan allowed for off site design fabrication, which minimised the environmental impact the construction had. Material. The rectangular  shaped exterior is covered in approximately 280 Northern white Cedar planks, square-cut and up to 15 feet long as the material is vastly available in the region of the site. It is sealed to be weather proofed and attached to the cleating using adhesive resin, brad nails and screws. The exterior façade of the sauna got its unique carbon color from a Japanese wood charring process known as "shou sugi ban" or "yakisugi" allowing it to blend in with the rock facades. On the otherwise curvilinear interior, the walls are lined with 117 wooden panels, CNC-milled (Computerized Numerical  Control) by Millworks Custom Manufacturing (MCM) and held together by 11 gauge galvanized steel brackets, custom made to 8” by 4” square. “Cut from raw wood blocks up to 4 feet by 8 feet, the 7.5-inch-deep panels range from 10 inches square to 48 inches by 114 inches; the larger pieces were joined after milling.” CNC milling maximised the amount of wood used for the walls and allowed the wood to get milled along the grain so that every piece could match when fit together. To hold these panels together, custom made galvanized steel brackets that were 8 ” by 4” square and 11- gauge galvanized were used. In order to put up with the varying temperature changes in the site climate, a water-resistive barrier, DELTA®-FASSADE is used to allow moisture vapor that gathers in the interior to escape. The window panes were made using double and triple glazed annealed glass which corroborates high energy savings. Awards. AIA International Region Design Awards, April 2014 Ontario Wood Works, Wood Design Award, November 2014 WAN Wood in Architecture Awards, March 2015 OAA Design Excellence Award, March 2015 Platinum A' Design Award, April 2015