Today on the bench, we welcome Todd Furneaux who is spearheading the building of the World’s Largest Sauna. The sauna is being constructed as part of Runningman, a three day festival happening outside of Atlanta Georgia this mid October 2023.
During this episode, you’ll hear about Todd’s company and cohorts, All Day Running. And how the idea of building the World’s Largest Sauna was surely fostered on the sauna bench or in the cold plunge. As with endorphins running and community spiriting, this is the environment for Sauna Talk and crazy out there thinking.
Atlanta steeplechase. Grass track. Sauna Village, fun zone, DJs, live music, conferences,
October 17, 18, 19 event.
Sauna can hold. 250 – 350 people at a time.
Mechanics of World’s Largest Sauna
Specially designed Todd Right Brain Thinking:
- 3,000 square feet in modular squares using 4’x4′ framing material.
- Side walls: sauna tent material 3 ply oxford. 9′ tall 20′ wide.
- Flooring: cedar flooring and entry way crafted by Nomad Sauna.
- Roof: Greenhouse style sauna inspiration from NorthUp in Minneapolis. Clear polycarbonate roofing. Same material It’s rated to over 550f. to melt it. The material let’s the light in. There is a greenhouse effect with clear polycarbonate as roofing. On sunny Atlanta days, it’s about 120f. before lighting to the stove.
- Sauna stoves: 12 large Kuuma wood burners. one stove fevery 200 sf.
Prototype: 200 sf sauna 20’x10′. A great way of testing the temperature of things. How the size of the panels.
Final dimensions of the world’s largest sauna
65′ x 45′ with extra 200 – 400′ square feet entry and exit.
Exercising your immune system
Running and Sauna.. they go hand in hand.
UPDATE: OCTOBER 19, 2023:
Editor’s Note: It worked! Todd’s backyard proof of concept x 12 = a successful kick ass World’s Largest Sauna. I brought my tape measure and heat gun. Though some could scorn the law of löyly infraction with 7′ ceilings, Todd’s design and attention to the holy trinity of good sauna (heat, steam, ventilation) allowed for multidirectional heat goodness top to bottom. 190f up top. 170f. at the benches, and people hot stepping their way atop the cedar decking floor, out of the sauna, and into the cold plunge tanks.
