Extendable S1 sauna
The extendable S1 sauna from KLAFS regularly gives the couple a hotel feeling in their own study at home.
At the age of 14, Michael Friederich went on vacation with his parents to Scandinavia for the first time - and has remained faithful to sauna bathing ever since. On vacation, in the gym, on a business trip or in public baths. His wife Uta shares his passion - at least once a week she had to be inside, summer and winter, the common time out in warmth, wood scent and swathes of infusion.
When Friederich, managing director at a company for technical building equipment, was outfitting his now award-winning three-story architect's house near Böblingen in 2012, the talk naturally turned to preparations for a sauna system in the house's basement. The couple agreed - and declined.
"Although the regular sauna bath is our hobby and, yes, to some extent our elixir of life, for both of us the image just did not fit together, on the one hand enjoying our bright, airy dream house and then on the other hand sitting in a bathrobe in the basement," Michael Friedrich thinks back.
The most pragmatic solution - Zoom S1 sauna
Admittedly, the basement would have been modern and spacious enough for a "private spa" with all the trimmings, but the couple had a different idea - and it was based on an S1 sauna from KLAFS, the market leader from Schwäbisch Hall.
When retracted, the cabin of the S1 sauna measures no more in depth than a conventional closet - but when it is extended to three times the depth thanks to the patented motor control using the zoom principle, it reveals generous space for extensive sauna enjoyment.
The choice fell on the study on the second floor. Directly opposite the desk and the view of the foothills of the Swabian Alb, a good two meters of wall were waiting to become the setting for Friederich's relaxation rituals in the future.
Structurally, no further preparations were necessary; a standard household socket for operating the sauna was available, as was a sturdy tile floor whose joint grid also happened to match the extended sauna cabin perfectly.
Within a few hours, the cabin was assembled by KLAFS fitters in the fall of 2018 - and when retracted, it takes a back seat to the study's simple, functional ambience. It is extended on the most diverse occasions:
"After exhausting days at work, after long journeys or meetings, I long for this effective regeneration at the end of the day."Michael Friederich gives an interim summary of the first months with his own S1 sauna.
"I see the sauna, turn it on, and use the good half hour of heating time to take care of the last necessities of the day at my desk, while the sauna is already shining invitingly behind me. This is great in everyday life!"
Uta Friederich also uses the new sauna when a window of opportunity opens up: "The effort and energy required is absolutely justifiable, even if you just want to indulge in a quick hour alone."
On weekends, however, the two celebrate their time out together - and enjoy the fact that the sauna is right in the middle of the living room: "Between sauna sessions, reading on the sofa, making a coffee in a bathrobe, the short way to the bathroom - we are experiencing our own house in a completely different way again, now." is how Michael Friederich sums it up.
There is almost something like a hotel feeling within the family's own four walls
Apart from the fact that the Friederichs now no longer - or no longer so often - have to set off for the region's saunas, pack their things, park the car and then drive back again, the Friederichs not only appreciate these practical aspects of having their own sauna in the living room - it was in fact the final impulse to really consciously enjoy their own home. And at least every weekend.
