Tell us a little about what you did before you joined Heartwood and how it has shaped your role here.

Robin: Before joining Heartwood Saunas, I worked in various roles, and each has contributed to my knowledge and skill set, supporting what I do at Heartwood. Perhaps the most notable of those roles, which continues to inform my work here at Heartwood, was training as a tree surgeon, which meant I learnt about different tree varieties and their characteristics. From there, I went on to work in a sawmill, which means I have also seen first-hand the entire process wood goes through before it becomes a material we can use to craft saunas. I’ve been a sauna user and advocate for many years and, throughout several summers, managed the build of a travelling festival sauna at events across the country, so I came to Heartwood with a strong understanding of saunas and sauna bathing.

Frew: Outdoor work and roles that keep me connected to nature have always appealed to me. I worked on a dairy farm, then moved into more hands-on, creative jobs. I started out as a builder, then moved into carpentry, learning new skills along the way. Being self-employed for many years helped prepare me for the supervisor role I now have here at Heartwood as I learnt how to manage my time, manage projects and source the right materials for each job.

Arta: I trained as an architect and spent many years, post-qualification, working for an architect’s studio in London, where I gained experience across a range of projects and clients. I left London just before lockdown to travel around Europe to volunteer in eco-communities and learn about natural buildings. While travelling, I was drawing and sketching and exhibited some of my work at galleries across Europe before I eventually found myself in the rugged landscape of Mid-Wales. I’m originally from Latvia, where sauna bathing is just part of the culture, so when I saw an opportunity to work for Heartwood Saunas, where I could combine my knowledge of saunas with my architectural background, I knew it was the kind of opportunity I’d been searching for as I also wanted to learn more about building and carpentry. I now divide my time between office-based design work and the workshop. Each role informs the other, giving me a much deeper understanding of crafting a sauna.

What is the most enjoyable and satisfying part of your job?

Robin: As workshop manager, much of my time is spent overseeing the team and managing the workshop production schedule. When I first started, I was doing much more carpentry, but the team has grown a lot in the last few years, and these days, a big part of my job is to support the team, offer guidance, and ensure each project is progressing smoothly. I enjoy training the team, encouraging their development, and working with the wider management team to support the company's growth and ensure we’re as sustainable as possible across each aspect of the business. When I do get to work on the builds myself, I enjoy being in the flow of the work and just focusing on the task at hand with no distractions. I also still enjoy that last walkaround we do on a sauna to check it’s all perfect before it’s wrapped, loaded and delivered to its new home. At that moment, you see the sauna as a whole, not just as the sum of its material parts. Looking at what we’ve created as a team is always rewarding.

Frew: I love that feeling of flow when working with wood and the joy of crafting something beautiful with my hands. I’m also driven to produce the best work I can and especially enjoy that moment at the end of a project when we can look at the end result and all the work that’s gone into making a sauna and feel proud of the achievement.

Arta: Our founder, Olly, is committed to ensuring we produce the very best work in all that we do and has an incredibly optimistic attitude, which means we, as a team, approach everything with the belief that we can find a solution to any problem or issue that comes up. It’s beautiful to work as part of a team and feel like nothing is impossible when we put our heads together. This attitude resonates across the company and has also crossed over into my personal life, helping me develop a resilient and positive attitude to any challenge.

Why is the choice of material so important in sauna making?

Frew: The choice of material—in our case, wood and different types of wood—is really important as it influences the feel of the sauna. Material choice affects how smooth things are to the touch, how hot they become in the sauna, how visually elegant they are and how they express that dance between softness and strength.

Arta: As an architect, picking the right materials is essential to bringing the design to life. Selecting the right wood for the different parts of the build is as critical as ensuring correct spacing and ventilation within the sauna. Each element and material must be chosen carefully for a small space like a sauna, which has to withstand huge temperature variations. There is much less scope for flexibility in a smaller structure like a sauna than with a bigger building, which means each decision is critical to the space working effectively. Material decisions are also fundamental to ensuring we produce saunas in the most sustainable way possible to ensure longevity and minimise waste.

Robin: The material used needs to perform well in a sauna environment. It has to be functional, durable and able to tolerate both the sauna's heat, as well as changing external weather conditions and temperatures. As a company committed to making saunas that minimise our impact on the planet and the environment, we question each component's provenance and carbon footprint. That means, as far as possible, working with suppliers who align with our principles and who themselves are as sustainable and environmentally conscious as we are. When it comes to wood, the biggest resource used in sauna making, we never compromise on quality or provenance and always ensure that the wood we use comes from well-managed, sustainable forests in the UK. Where we spend our money can have such an impact, which is why, in our saunas, every element is the best version of itself - that’s what makes them so special.

What is it you love about working with wood?

Arta: Wood is beautiful and versatile. It’s an environmentally friendly resource that is used and will eventually decompose, returning to the ground. It’s also easy and fun to work with - and it smells good! You also don’t need that many tools to work with wood, so there is beauty in the simplicity of the work. Since coming to Heartwood, learning about wood has helped shape my design work, giving me a better understanding of the material and how it works in a build.

Frew: When you work with wood and start to understand its ways, you realise you can make it into any shape you want as it’s a beautifully malleable material. It feels ready to become something! I look at the grain and the structure of the wood, imagining how it might warp or change over time and where its place in a project might be.

Robin: I love the fact that wood is a natural resource that can grow abundantly and sustainably. When you work with it as a material and look more closely at each piece of timber, you start to observe the characteristics of each tree and how individual they all are. You also see all the things it could be and its potential. On a more practical level, I like looking at its structure and working out how any flaw, weak point or knot might impact the integrity of the sauna. If that means it’s not suited for the original function I had in mind, then I’ll start looking at where else it could be used - there are always so many possibilities.

Arta, as our in-house designer, can you tell us the three main design principles you consider when designing a sauna?

Arta: Firstly, everything has to be correct. It’s important to ensure you’ve thought about how it all comes together, how the materials interact, how water moves, and what will happen with the condensation. This is often down to the physics of the material and understanding how the material will respond to the sauna environment—what the heat will do, how the outdoor temperature will affect the material. This is a challenge in a small space like a sauna—the scale makes it harder.

Secondly, it’s essential to be meticulous about the sauna's layout and flow. Everything needs to work together—the distance to the stove, the door positioning, the seating height, etc. Having a well-planned floor plan for the sauna is non-negotiable.

Finally, as we’ve discussed, it’s about choosing the right material for the job.

What do you think makes a Heartwood Sauna so special?

Robin: The company is built on the values of Olly, the founder of the business, and those values still resonate through all that we do in the company every day. His goal was to elevate the outdoor sauna experience and create beautiful spaces that connect us, as humans, to each other and to the natural world. Olly’s no-compromise approach and unwavering commitment to making beautiful saunas means we always strive to create the most flawless saunas possible. You can trust that the quality is there all the way through a Heartwood Sauna - nothing is even a mm out of place, and in carpenter speak, each sauna is square to a tolerance that hardly anyone would expect to achieve. As a company, we’re committed to continuous progress and improvement in everything we do. Our designs and builds are always evolving, helping us stay at the forefront of outdoor sauna production here in the UK.

Arta: They’re beautiful! And they have been built to last a long time. Each sauna is made with dedication, and much care has been put into every step of the journey. They are saunas built for people, by people, in a positive, sustainable work environment.

What do you want customers to feel or experience when they take ownership of their Heartwood Sauna?

Arta: We want the client to have the most relaxing and enjoyable sauna experience possible. They should be able to relax fully, not see anything out of place, and have no visual or practical snags or imperfections that might draw the eye and disrupt the experience. For me, it’s also important that they have a sauna that’s easy to use and care for, which blends seamlessly into their lives and will continue to bring them joy for many years.

Robin: I want them to experience their sauna as a sanctuary, a quiet space to be enjoyed regularly. My hope for our clients is that stepping into their Heartwood sauna becomes the highlight of their day.