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Oslo to get second floating sauna

A new raft in Oslo harbour will give hardy bathers the option of taking a sauna and dip in the sea year-round.

Published: 5 March 2018 13:56 CET

Oslo to get second floating sauna

The current floating sauna at Sørenga in Oslo. File photo: Heiko Junge / NTB scanpix

A similar floating sauna at Sørenga in Oslo has already become a popular attraction in the city since opening in 2015.

Now, a grant of one million kroner (103,000 euros) will provide for the people behind the concept to build an even larger floating sauna, reports VårtOslo.

“We are fortunate enough to have received one million kroner from the DNB Savings Bank Foundation (Sparebankstiftelsen). This money will go towards building a new floating sauna. The new raft will enable sauna and bathing all year round,” Ragna Marie Fjeld, chairperson of the Sørenga Badstu og Helårsbad association (Sørenga Sauna and Year- Round Swimming), told VårtOslo.

The new construction will supplement the existing floating sauna facility, according to the report.

The final design for the new floating sauna was selected from 57 submissions sent in as part of a competition, VårtOslo reports.

Architecture students Stian Fommestad and Edvard Glazebrook, whose design was chosen, told the media that the new facility – based on 30×30 beams – could be put together in very little time.

“This is a concept that can be built quickly within a week. So we hope to see it finished soon,” Fommestad said.

READ ALSO: Oslo sets aside 53 million kroner to clear away snow

Rental prices in Norway's biggest cities continue to rise

A sharp increase in rent prices in Norway continued throughout the third quarter, figures from Real Estate Norway (Eiendom Norge) released on Tuesday show.

“Real Estate Norway’s rental housing price statistics show a historically strong rise in rental housing prices in Norway in the third quarter,” Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Real Estate Norway, stated in a report on the latest figures.

Growth was most robust in Stavanger and Oslo, according to Real Estate Norway.

“The strong growth in rental prices we have seen in the wake of the pandemic continued in the third quarter, and it is particularly in the Stavanger region and in Oslo that the growth in rental prices is strong,” Lauridsen said.

Stavanger and nearby Sandnes saw the largest price increases, with the cost of renting there increasing by 4.7 percent during the third quarter. During the same period, rents in Oslo increased by 2.5 percent, while a marginal 0.3 percent rise was recorded in Trondheim.

While the cost of renting in Norway’s four largest cities overall increased by 2 percent, rental prices in Bergen declined. There, rents fell by 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

Lauridsen said that the increase in rental prices was likely to continue due to several factors. High inflation, interest rates, increased taxes on rental properties and a low supply of homes on the market all contributed to increasing rents.

However, he did note that the supply of rental homes on the market had increased in Trondheim and Oslo since the summer.

Lauridsen said that the least well-off financially were being hit hardest by rent rises. Previously, the Norwegian government has informed The Local that it will not introduce a temporary cap on rent increases.

READ MORE: Norway’s government rules out a temporary rent cap

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