Partisans designed the private sauna, named Grotto, for a craggy spot on the shore of Lake Huron. Perched on an island's edge in Georgian Bay, Ontario, the Grotto Sauna is a feat of old-world craftsmanship and new-world sustainability made possible by cutting-edge software and fabrication technology.

"Inspired by an Italian grotto, our design pays homage to the extremities of the northern Canadian landscape," said the architects. A simple but dignified exterior built from charred cedar prepared using the traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban method conveys a weathered appearance, it's as if the building has been hidden in plain sight for centuries. The team used a Leica 3D scanner to study the rock formation and worked through a number of CNC-cut models before settling on the final design for the sauna.

The luminous glow of the interior wood enhances the sunkissed sauna experience, while the pre-aged exterior veils the intimacy of that experience from the world. Really a place to chill and find your inner peace, but unfortunately...its' private.

Check the video about construction below.

Grotto: A Canadian Prefab Construction from PARTISANS on Vimeo.