Stockholm to open first public sauna in June

Stockholm residents often step out of wooden saunas and into the city’s brackish waters year-round. Popular private spots, however, keep long waiting lists and rarely open slots to non-members.

The city plans to change that in June when it opens its first publicly run sauna in Hornstull on Södermalm island. The pilot project will offer access without membership and is meant to test a model the authorities hope to repeat.

Pia Karlsson, project manager at the City of Stockholm’s transport office, said the 5.5 million Swedish kronor facility was built to deliver “sauna for all.” The goal, she said, was a site that is “100% accessible, so no membership. Accessible to the city’s residents and our guests.”

The new green building arrived by tugboat on Tuesday at the former site of Liljeholmsbadet, a 1930s floating bathhouse removed last year. Architect Dinell Johansson designed the structure, which draws on the city’s historic wooden water pavilions, and Marinbastun built it. A new jetty will also serve swimmers who do not use the sauna.

Stockholm already has clean water and strong demand for bada bastu, yet most waterside saunas remain private. Neighbouring Oslo and Helsinki offer easier public access, and city officials want to close that gap.

The project forms part of a larger plan to open the waterfront with new swimming areas, walkways and seating. The city also intends to require that all central sauna slots be open for public booking.

Some private sauna associations have criticised the booking rules, saying they could hurt membership models that keep costs lower for regular users. Karlsson said the public and private options can work together and that the city’s price of 150 kronor for 90 minutes will not undercut existing operators.

Mathias Leveborn of Sthlm Sauna, which has a 20,000-person waiting list across its sites, welcomed the addition. His group’s new Södermalm facility is set to open in September. “It is great that Stockholm is finally starting to catch up with other Nordic countries,” he said.