Soria Moria Sauna sits at the western end of Lake Bandak in Dalen, in Tokke municipality, Telemark, where the Telemark Canal landscape starts to feel almost like a fjord. It is compact, but it reads as a small landmark: a sharp, low silhouette just off the shoreline, framed by mountains and long water reflections.

Completed in 2018, the sauna is about 39 square metres. The building is deliberately simple in plan, but expressive in profile. Its angled rooflines echo the slopes that fall down into Bandak, so the structure feels “pulled” out of the terrain rather than placed on top of it. From a distance it looks quiet and dark, but up close the cladding reveals the real character.

The exterior is covered in wooden shingles, a clear nod to regional building traditions. The surprise is the golden shimmer woven into the surface. Small golden shingles are integrated into the facade, catching light and flickering as you move around it. It is an effect that changes with weather and season, turning the sauna into a kind of signal on the water without relying on big gestures or bright colors.

The name Soria Moria carries a fairytale tone in Norway, and the design leans into that idea without becoming literal. The gold highlights hint at folklore and local storytelling, while also pointing to a historical contrast in Dalen. This area is known for both rural Telemark culture and a period of high-end tourism that arrived in the late 1800s, when visitors came to experience the canal route and the dramatic landscape. The sauna quietly links those layers: traditional material language, a contemporary form, and a touch of theatrical glow.

Where it sits matters as much as what it looks like. Much of this shoreline is shallow, so the sauna is positioned along a deeper inlet and lifted on stilts. A long wooden walkway reaches out over the water to the building, turning the approach into part of the experience. It feels like a short pier-walk that slows you down, separating everyday land movement from the ritual of heat, water, and views.

Inside, the program stays focused. There is a sauna room designed around the lake panorama, plus practical spaces for changing and gathering. The atmosphere is meant to be calm and straightforward, with the landscape doing most of the work. It is the kind of place where the view becomes the main “interior feature”, especially when the weather shifts and the lake surface changes from glassy to wind-cut in minutes.

Soria Moria Sauna has also become one of those small Norwegian projects that travels far through images. Its bold silhouette and subtle gold sparkle photograph well, but the reason it sticks is simpler: it offers a clear, public experience built from basic elements – wood, water, heat, and a carefully chosen edge of land. It is architecture that does not try to dominate the setting. Instead, it gives the landscape a frame and gives visitors a reason to pause, warm up, and step back into the lake.

In a region with strong craft traditions and dramatic scenery, the sauna works because it is specific to place. It feels like Telemark in material and mood, while still being unmistakably contemporary. Small in size, it carries a big sense of atmosphere.