Russian banya from Russia

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Banya or sauna

Helth

Design

Stoves

Principles of design and choice of materials

Design of Russian banya is as important as construction technology, and often influences it.

The purpose of design is to liquidate a feeling of shock which a man endures when he transfers into the environment where the main parameters habitual for him (temperature, humidity etc.) are altered many times. The more delightful is this transfer, the better steam room fulfils its principal function. And here every petty thing of interior becomes essential.

The space must be organized so that a glance wouldn't cling to unnecessary details. One needs to the maximum take off anything that emphasizes closeness of space. A number of angles must be minimal and they haven't to stick out. Octahedrons attract those designers who strive to accentuate the originality of the project. There's nothing good in that for the customer. As regards smoothing of angles, we mean the absence of details emphasizing the presence of an angle. No casings, no battens and plinths. By the way, the customer often doesn't realize that, but when the contact of panels in the angles is not covered by anything, it testifies about amazingly high professionalism and intricate work of a carpenter. This is like a dress "haute couture" where seams are performed so that a lady could wear it inside out if she wished.

The next theme is illumination. Light is performed mild and maximally uniform. Shock which a body gets through touch, must be compensated by serene perception of other senses, and first of all -- vision. To our mind, an optimal variant is to arrange luminaires under the upper bench in the opposite corners. In this case naturally a bench decking is not to be continuous. The opening between boards of the decking is 1.5-3 cm.

We suppose there is absolutely no sense to install back rests -- horizontal boards which are nailed on the wall over the upper bench on the level of the sitting man back. If walls are covered with coniferous small boards, then simply there is no alternative. Coniferous wood is stingy and sticking. We construct banyas from deciduous types of trees, and in fact this problem doesn't exist. And excessive details are not needed in the steam room.

At last now we'll speak about types of trees most suitable for the construction of banya. To our mind conifers have got several defects. These are not only resin and knots. One could find coniferous wood without knots and with removed resin. The essence is that conifers stimulumate and tone up human body. That is well known for aroma-therapists. But this not what is needed for banya. Banya has to withdraw stress. To this point suitable are types of wood which soothe and relax -- deciduous kinds such as lime-tree, aspen etc. Aspen features are maximally expressed in this direction. For example, the Russian tradition of building wells from aspen is based on the fact that aspen energy exchange doesn't enable bacteria to develop, and water in such wells is always more pure. Moreover, it's desirable not to mix coniferous and decidious covering in one room.