Ondsauna
Ondsauna Sauna by Taro Shimokawa is a winner of the 2025 Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design.
Ondsauna is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a much prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness.
Explore This Amazing WorkOndsauna Sauna
Trees grow endlessly upward, a concept reflected in the vertical exterior walls clustered around the sauna room. A spiraling path leads upward to a rooftop relaxation space, mirroring the building's form. The sauna entrance is at GL+250, the cold plunge deck at GL+1000, and the rooftop at GL+3250, so the transition from sauna to cold plunge to open air follows a vertical flow. Viewing the forest at treetop height allows one to share in its growth rhythm.
Featured Design
Ondsauna by Taro Shimokawa
Core Functionality
Sauna
Accolades
Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award Winner in 2025.
Bronze Winner
Ondsauna Sauna
Ondsauna is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a much prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Ondsauna is expected to be a highly-regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Ondsauna splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Winner Designer
Taro Shimokawa
Taro Shimokawa creates architecture that is both “ordinary and special,” blending Japanese tradition with contemporary design. His work balances universality and individuality, offering spaces where people find small joys in daily life. Drawing on experience in France, he fuses traditional Japanese techniques with Western design, using natural materials like domestic timber and plaster. His buildings age beautifully over time. Actively involved in education, he nurtures future architects. As a father of two who took childcare leave, he applies this perspective to childcare facilities and housing. Fluent in French, he also engages in international projects.
View Winner ProfileWinner Client
Ondpark
OND PARK opened in the Takeo Onsen Recreation Village, not far from the centre of Takeo City, Saga Prefecture. The 100-hectare site preserves a rich environment with forests where wild birds live, streams where fireflies dance, and ponds that have been selected as one of the 100 best reservoirs, and is home to a valuable ecosystem. Three main areas have been developed within the park, with camping sites, a yoga studio, sauna, café and other facilities where visitors can enjoy a variety of activities. Exercise and healing will help to improve the mind and body. And through new exchanges and healthy lifestyles, it will also contribute to community development. We aim to create a base where people can enjoy both daily life and leisure activities, raising the temperature of the people, community and region.
Read The Inside Story
Discover in-depth story of the Ondsauna, a Sauna designed by the highly esteemed Taro Shimokawa, awarded with the very prestigious A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award. Explore more about the intricate details and the story behind this unique Sauna now.
Ondsauna SaunaResources for Journalists
Press Kit Downloads
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Press Releases
Read the official press release announcing Ondsauna as a winner of the prestigious A' Design Award. The award-winner press release provides an overview of the Ondsauna Sauna's unique features, innovation, and impact.
Media Showcase
Explore the media showcase dedicated to Ondsauna at Design|Newsroom, gain easy access to a wide range of media assets, including high-resolution images, videos, and additional resources related to the award-winning Ondsauna Sauna.
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Ondpark
"Ondsauna Sauna" - Bronze A' Design Award Winner
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