The 2026 Sauna Stewardship Awards

Sompasauna is a sauna run on trust. Built from salvaged materials on the Sompasaari waterfront, staffed by nobody, funded by donations, and open through the night in summer, it is the clearest proof that sauna belongs to anyone who shows up.

The Award for Community Access goes to Sompasauna because the volunteers who tend it — stacking firewood, fixing benches, replacing ladles — keep it running without a gate, a till, or a reservation system. In a year when more of the scene went premium, that's a decision worth naming.

From the atlas: A free, volunteer-run sauna on the Sompasaari waterfront — no staff, no booking, no rules beyond basic sauna etiquette. Built from salvaged materials and open around the clock in summer. Bring your own towel and an open mind. Helsinki at its most democratic.

Kotiharjun Sauna has been open in the same Kallio building since 1928 and has not updated its proposition in any meaningful way since. Wood-fired löyly, worn benches, regulars who don't say much, and a price at the very bottom of the atlas.

The Award for Heritage recognises that keeping a venue like Kotiharjun open — through every wave of spa fashion, every round of rent pressure, every push to modernise — is a form of active stewardship. What isn't renovated is preserved; what isn't branded is inherited.

From the atlas: Helsinki's last remaining public wood-fired sauna, operating continuously since 1928 in the Kallio neighbourhood. The löyly is fierce, the benches are worn smooth, and the regulars don't say much. This is sauna at its most essential — no design concept, no brand, just heat.

Puffin Sauna is a converted horse trailer parked at a community croft in Leith, run by the Earth in Common charity, with sessions from £12. It is the least glamorous venue in this year's atlas and one of the most useful.

The Award for Grassroots Stewardship goes to Puffin Sauna because it shows how far the scene goes on very little: a stove, a trailer, a plunge barrel, a rota, and people who want the city to have a sauna. Every operator starting out sees Puffin and realises they can too.

From the atlas: A converted horse trailer turned wood-fired sauna at Leith Community Croft, tucked among food-growing plots and a community cafe. Capacity 6, 2 cold plunge barrels, and sessions from £12. Run by the Earth in Common charity, it has the atmosphere of something built by people who actually use it.