Normal apartment dwellers simply don’t have the space for certain amenities. Trying to cram a pool table into a room that also needs to hold a couch, TV, and other typical things you need for comfort is often a no-go. But if you have room for a closet, German manufacturer Klafs thinks you can also fit a sauna in your apartment.
The S1 is the company’s retractable sauna. It takes 20 seconds for it to go from about 2 feet (60 centimeters) deep to about 5 feet (160 centimeters), telescoping out almost like an accordion. That means you’ll still need a significant amount of space to get steamy. Depending on how many square feet your apartment is, you can get the sauna in small (5.6 feet or 172 centimeters), medium (6.6 feet or 202 centimeters), or large (7.6 feet or 232 centimeters). The interior comes equipped with a bench that also folds down into a recliner, LED lights, and a Bluetooth speaker that plays tunes off your smartphone, according to Designboom. It also has a few smart features, like letting you set up a schedule or remotely control it through an app.
The control panel has open and close buttons, along with an LED screen and more buttons for controlling lights, temperature, humidity, and the five different modes (classic sauna, hot-air bath, tropical bath, aroma bath, and soft steam bath). Naturally, there are some built-in safety features, considering this is a moving hot box. The heater drops down into its “garage” below the bench only after it’s completely cool. It won’t pop up and start heating things up unless the sauna is fully open. The S1’s movable tech has sensors that halt it from retracting or extending when something is in its path, and you have to hold down the buttons continuously for it it to start on its journey, and you can also make sure the controls can only be accessed with a password.
While the price in Germany starts at about $12,915 (10,900 euros), it’s not UL certified and is unavailable in the U.S.
Updated 5/2/2016: Updated to include price and availability.
