Saunas & cold plunges in Nyungwe & Rusizi

Designing against permanent damp

In a forest lodge, a cabin closed up after use will still be damp the next morning. We fit mechanical extract with a long run-on timer on every hot room, raise cabins clear of the ground on a ventilated void, and use charred or thermo-treated timber throughout — untreated softwood here has a short, unhappy life.

Vapour barriers must be continuous and correctly placed, warm side, with sealed penetrations. A barrier with gaps in this climate traps moisture inside the wall, which is worse than none.

Working inside a protected landscape

Access, waste and noise are all constrained near the park. We prefabricate as much as possible in Gisozi so that on-site work is assembly rather than cutting, take our offcuts away, and run generators only in agreed windows.

What guests want after the canopy walk

Warm and dry, quickly. A steam room is a harder sell in a rainforest than a dry sauna — people have been damp all day. A hot dry cabin and a hot shower is the combination that gets used.