Welcome Wellbeing Home
Craig Hough talks to Gilles Darmon, Director of KLAFS UK about how you can create your own spa sanctuary at home
What do KLAFS UK offer their customers and what is your order and fitting process?
We offer the full range of specialist spa facilities, each crafted to the customersโ exacting requirements. Not only do we design and build a wide range of saunas, but also steam baths, along with caldarium, tepidarium, hamam, mud bath, ice lounge and snow cabin facilities.
When KLAFS UK are brought on to a project, either when weโre approached directly by a client or through an architect as part of a wider project team, we will arrange an initial meeting with one of our expert consultants as early as we can into the process. There are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account early on and itโs always best that the team and our client are fully aligned from the outset.
Our thermal rooms can be made completely bespoke, with clients able to choose from a huge array of personalisation options - from the internal wood cladding, steam room finishes and LED illumination to high-tech infrared seats, energy-saving packages and essence injection. When designing and installing a thermal room as part of a larger renovation or new build project, we always work as closely as possible with our clients, architects, interior designers and developers to really make sure the room blends seamlessly into the rest of the scheme and meets both the client and project requirements.
The actual fitting process can vary, depending on the size and scale of the project. Usually, weโd allow a couple of months for the installation of a full wellness suite โ but this can certainly be much quicker for smaller projects of just a single sauna or steam room. Our EASY Sauna is also ideal for customers who donโt want to wait for installation and can be effortlessly assembled with just a tool bag and two pairs of hands!
Home saunas have seen a rise in sales since the pandemic hit. What advice would you offer to those looking to invest in one for their home?
If youโre considering investing in a sauna or wellness suite for your home, weโd suggest getting in touch with our expert team for an initial consultation. Weโre able to provide bespoke advice on what might be best suited for you and your home, in terms of space, bench arrangement, and options, but also what benefits you would like to get out of the installation. We can help you to ensure that you not only get what you want out of your project, but that your project achieves its full potential.
What would you recommend to those worried about finding the space for a sauna at home?
Many homeowners assume they need a very large room to house a sauna cabin, but this is no longer the case. Products are becoming more innovative and streamlined โ the sauna S1 range has been designed to meet the growing demand for space saving solutions โ both the automatic and manual saunas do not exceed the size of an ordinary bedroom wardrobe when not in use. For those on tighter budgets, our KLAFS EASY Sauna is a versatile DIY Sauna that can be quickly and easily assembled. It comes in 34 sizes, nine of which can simply be plugged into a standard 230V socket โmaking it ideal for compact, urban spaces. Best of all, the S1 and EASY saunas are as easy to uninstall than they are to install so owners can take them with them when they move home. We offer a full design consultancy and installation service to help our clients in their wellness journey, whatever their needs.
Tell us about your Ice Lounge and what the benefits for users are?
The Ice Lounge is one of our exciting cooling products, which are growing in popularity with our clients. The Ice Lounge is a cooling, relaxation space lined with backlit acrylic glass elements designed to replicate ice, complete with ice cube-style seats. It can come equipped with a stalagmite or traditional ice fountain and with ultra-high resolution screens that show dramatic nature images, from snowy peaks to drifting ice floes.
We always recommend that a sauna, or any heat up session, is followed by a rapid cooling phase, so our ice lounge provides an ideal post-sauna experience to complete the thermal journey. The heat from a sauna followed by sudden cold not only increases blood flow โ liberating harmful substances and detoxifying your body - but also improves the immune system, helps reduce sleep disorder and relaxes the muscles, making it particularly beneficial for those who partake in sports or regular exercise. Installed in a commercial environment, an Ice Lounge is also a very convivial way for guests to cool down.
What is a recent large-scale project you have worked on that you are most proud of?
We were recently selected to undertake a significant three-stage refurbishment project of a swimming pool and vitality pool at a high-end residential property in the desirable docklands area of East London. The project also included a sauna and steam room, providing a complete wellness journey for the residents.
The client selected the KLAFS Matteo Thun sauna to replace the existing sauna, designed with a combination of walnut wood and glass, providing indirect lighting with a view into the pool hall and out across the River Thames.
The steam room was also enlarged and upgraded to offer a two-tier seating configuration and ceiling-mounted steam blasts. By implementing these changes, we were able to not only deliver a more comfortable and more spacious relaxation area, but also an enhanced heat experience. Positioning the benches on two levels creates varying heat levels as the steam rises whereas the seats equipped with compressed warm air steam jets provide bathers with a gentle steam blast directly onto their skin.
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