Latvian architecture studio Open AD has completed the Ziedlejas Spa and Wellness Resort in the town of Sigulda, featuring a cluster of Corten steel and glass cabins dotted across a sloping site overlooking a pond.
Designed as a contemporary take on local sauna culture, the spa, which has been shortlisted in the hospitality building category of Dezeen Awards 2021, comprises two independent steam rooms and three cabins for overnight stays.
Top: three corten-steel and glass cabins and a subterranean sauna were built in Latvia. Above: the cabins were built onto a sloping terrain
The three cabins sit at the top of the sloping site, while the subterranean Glass Sauna sits at its base, dug into the hill and overlooking the pond.
The second sauna, called the Smoke Room, sits in a nearby wooded area, constructed using charred logs and topped by a weathered steel roof that references the form of traditional sauna structures. The cabins were placed on top of decked platforms
Riga-based practice Open AD worked with landscape architect Landshape to draw all of these independent structures into a coherent whole, linked by winding pathways and stone steps that traverse the site.
"Each structure is both an independent unit and an intrinsic part of the overall composition...the journey from sauna room to pond is short, and the Glass Sauna is accessible for persons with reduced mobility," said the practice.
The Smoke Room has a charred-log exterior
The Glass Sauna is clad in charre...