Shokk&Awe

Shokk&Awe started when designer Charles Longbottom dug a ten-metre natural swimming pond behind his house by hand and wanted an off-grid sauna beside it. Research into the Swedish smoke sauna led to a workshop in the Swedish highlands, where the team mills its own timber and cuts every joint by axe. A partner in Gstaad who builds and restores chalets now makes Swiss versions, and the Westwood sauna is built in the company's Hertfordshire barn. It is a family business: Charles designs from a concept workshop in Swaledale, and his son Tom builds and manages projects. The lodges deliberately take the form of agricultural buildings rather than contemporary glass boxes, and are made to weather into the landscape.