Rare Collectiv surrounds Norwegian sauna with timber ribs that "evoke the hull of a ship"

A skeletal frame of reclaimed timber surrounds the elongated form of Skroget, a community sauna and public deck in Norway designed by student architecture studio Rare Collectiv.

Overlooking the busy harbour of Båtsfjord, known as Norway's fishing capital, the structure was designed and built by 15 students from the Design in Context course at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Exterior view towards Skroget sauna — Rare Collectiv has completed a community sauna and public deck in Norway

Named Skroget after the Norwegian word for hull, the 40-metre-long structure is modelled on the skeletal frame of a boat. It contains public seating areas, a sauna room and a terrace with a fire pit overlooking a rocky bank at the water's edge.

The design was developed collaboratively by the Rare Collectiv team, beginning with 15 individual proposals that were then discussed, developed and narrowed down to three designs, before a final vote.

Timber deecking by Rare Collectiv — Its elongated form is built from a skeletal timber frame

"For us, the line where the sea meets the land was the most interesting part of the site, and we wanted to be able to connect the sauna experience close to the cold water so in future it is possible to create a bathing possibility," Rare Collectiv told Dezeen.

"Through the long building we created two sides – a rough waterside and a more protected side toward the land and south. Even with stronger winds, the walls provide shelter to enjoy the sun from the south," it added.

"Together, the wooden frames evoke the carcass of a fish, or, as suggested by the name of the project, the hull of a ship."

Walkway at Skroget by Rare Collectiv — The studio used reclaimed timber

Almost the entire structure of Skroget was built with lengths of reused timber, sourced from a building recently dismantled by the local municipality.

Its defining feature is the row of nineteen timber portals, which have been angled towards the harbour to create a sloping roof that extends to shelter a walkway and seating area on the southern side.

This walkway links the more public entrance and fire pit to the west to the sauna at the eastern end, with the space in between housing changing rooms and showers.

"This concept of the continuous hallway allows visitors to explore the building without a dead end, but rather exit and explore a different space of the site," the team explained.

Seating space at Skroget sauna in Norway — A seating area is sheltered by the structure's sloping roof

Contrasting with the predominantly reclaimed-wood structure, the 15-square-metre sauna was constructed from new wooden elements, with a dark brown wooden exterior and a pale birch interior.

For Skroget's external furniture, the team created a family of benches, tables and chairs with sloping seats and backrests designed to echo the building's angular frames.

Sauna interior — The 15-square-metre sauna was constructed from new wooden elements

Elsewhere in Norway, Rabagast Studio – led by students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim – created a small timber sauna floating atop a lake in Innlandet.

Other saunas recently featured on Dezeen include a crystal-shaped structure in northern Sweden by Bigert & Bergström and Puusauna in Finland, which Jaakko Torvinen supported with a colonnade of tree trunks.

The photography is by Merethe Amundsen Ruud unless otherwise stated.

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