Plans have been submitted to construct a community sauna for 200 daily visitors on the location of a former caravan plot in Crystal Palace Park.
The facility would contain four different saunas – including one with disabled access – as well as plunge pools, showers, changing cubicles, a therapies space and a counter serving refreshments.
Crystal Palace Park Trust and Community Sauna Baths, the groups jointly proposing the development, said the sauna would provide health and social benefits for residents living in the south London neighbourhood.
Community Sauna Baths, a London-based not-for-profit group, already operates sites in Camberwell, Hackney Wick, Peckham, Stratford and Walthamstow. Another site in Stoke Newington, north east London, was approved earlier this month.
The sauna and office space would be built in part of the former Caravan and Motorhome Club site at the northernmost corner of the park, near to the transmitting station tower.
A community sauna could be built in Crystal Palace Park
Bromley Council
In planning documents submitted to the council, the applicants said: “The mental and physical health benefits of saunas combined with accessible pricing creates a community health asset.
“Attending a community sauna can help combat isolation and loneliness and is used by those who would not have the financial means to visit other saunas. There are many other health benefits of regular sauna and cold plunge use and it is used to ease symptoms of many chronic health conditions.”
The application seeks planning permission for the sauna to operate for a period of five years, with all elements of the proposed structure designed to be temporary and easily removable.
It would be located next to the Rockhills Residential development site, where 202 homes are currently planned.
Community Sauna Baths’ site in Hackney Wick
Community Sauna Baths
The community sauna, if approved, would be open to the public from 7am to 10pm, seven days a week, with a half-day closure once a week for maintenance.
It will be able to accommodate up to 50 people at a time, but Community Sauna Baths anticipates 200 visitors a day.
Prices for an hour session typically cost £12 for standard and £6 for concessions. Community Sauna Baths also offers free sessions to local health and community groups.
Crystal Palace Park Trust have been the custodians of Crystal Palace Park since 2023, taking over responsibility from Bromley Council.
The trust has grown rapidly over three years and now has 26 staff, 21 of which work full time.
The office included as part of the planning application would be located within a temporary cabin-type structure with a total floor area of 188 metres square.