Opuke Sauna, Innovative Floating Steel Design

The new sauna at Ōpuke Thermal Pools in Methven doesn't sit on the ground, it floats over it. We fabricated the steel beams that carry the whole building across an old swale, holding the full weight up off the river bed so the ground underneath stays put, with the frame tying straight back into the stone gabion wall on the site. Once it's in, you'd never know the steel's there, just warm timber, a big window, and a clean view out to Mount Hutt. That's the fun of steel: it does all the heavy lifting and then gets out of the way.

Opuke sauna, Bromley Steel Christchurch