Perched at the northwest edge of an island in Georgian Bay, Canada, the Grotto Sauna is a feat of old-world craftsmanship and new-world sustainability made possible by cutting-edge technology. When the clients - avid architecture and design enthusiasts - commissioned the studio to build a sauna, they wanted “to be surprised” by the out-of-the-ordinary and to be part of a creative storytelling process. Inspired by an Italian grotto - a secret and sacred water-filled cave - the experimental design pays homage to the extremities of the landscape to forge a compelling architectural experience.

PARTISANS designs objects, designs architecture, designs cities, designs concepts, and even ideas. We strive to make the improbable possible and the impossible viable, at all scales and media. Our curiosities are insatiable and our drive to create them is central to our project. We are an award winning, internationally published studio founded in 2011 by Alexander Josephson and Pooya Baktash.

PARTISANS designs objects, designs architecture, designs cities, designs concepts, and even ideas. We strive to make the improbable possible and the impossible viable, at all scales and media. Our curiosities are insatiable and our drive to create them is central to our project. We are an award winning, internationally published studio founded in 2011 by Alexander Josephson and Pooya Baktash.