BACK TO NATURE

At ShareHeat, we preserve the depth, wisdom, and integrity of sauna tradition - a tradition that goes back thousands of years across Finland and Northern Europe. Saunas were never just luxury retreats or wellness trends; they were everyday rituals - places where people were born, healed, and gathered.

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CRAFTED IN NATURE 

Traditional saunas were built from natural, breathable materials drawn from the local environment - solid timber like spruce, pine, or aspen; moss or wool insulation; and simple designs that allowed heat and moisture to flow freely. No plastics or synthetic barriers. Ventilation was essential, supporting the body’s natural processes.

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THE TRADE-OFF WE CHOOSE​​

In recent decades, modern construction introduced vapour barriers, plastics, and synthetic insulation materials. These retain heat but block the sauna’s breathability, potentially leading to stale air, trapped moisture, mould risk, off-gassing, and exposure risk to toxins when heated. Many modern saunas, even custom-built ones, mimic tradition in appearance but miss its living essence - like choosing an oven instead of a hāngī (underground oven). An oven is closed off from the earth and the outside world, while a hāngī breathes with its environment. At ShareHeat, we don’t do shortcuts: we surround you with authentic, breathable materials, never trapping you from nature, and never compromising your health for convenience.

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ROOTED IN NATURE

Instead of cedar, we use thermally modified pine - abundant in Aotearoa and familiar to our landscape and our bodies. In line with sauna tradition, we build with local materials, fostering a deeper sense of connection and belonging. Cedar, though valued elsewhere, isn’t native to New Zealand and carries a strong, unfamiliar scent when heated. Choosing pine honours the wisdom of building with what naturally surrounds us.

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IN TUNE WITH NATURE

Our sauna is free from plastic linings, synthetic insulation, and toxic vapour barriers. Instead, it breathes. From the timber cladding to the airflow design, we return to foundational principles of breathability and passive ventilation - creating a clean, oxygen-rich space where your nervous system can relax and restore.

We use New Zealand sheep’s wool insulation and built to the Forever Breath Standard, a health-based building approach that ensures materials allow moisture to move naturally through the walls. This reduces condensation, prevents mould, and supports a drier, healthier structure, essential when heat and humidity are at play​​​​

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“A draughty sauna is a good sauna.”

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A SAUNA THAT BREATHES

Modern science confirms what ancient sauna cultures understood intuitively: real wellness comes not from sealing things in, but from letting things move. A sauna that breathes allows its guests to do the same.

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“A sauna must breathe, just like its guests.”

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More than just sweat and heat, sauna is a ritual of release, connection, and renewal. At ShareHeat, we honour this tradition by crafting a sauna with presence, integrity, and care, a space built to share heat and foster genuine restorative health, connection and wellness

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BUILT TO BE SHARED

Want to bring this experience into your community?

Whether it’s a gathering, wellness offering, or something you’re dreaming up, we’d love to be part of it.