Materials & Finishes

Chosen for performance first.
Beautiful because of it.

Every material in a Sünd pod is selected against one standard: does it hold up to real heat, real cold, and real weather, without needing to be babied. What follows is exactly what goes into a build, and why.

Exterior

Cladding

PREFA Aluminium

Austria

Standing-seam aluminium from PREFA, a company that has been producing roof and facade systems for over 75 years. Coil-coated to just 0.7mm and weighing only 2.2–2.3kg per square metre, it carries a 40-year material and colour guarantee and is rated A1 non-combustible — a finish that won’t rust, fade, or need recoating on any realistic timeline. Made from up to 87% recycled aluminium, and fully recyclable again at the end of its life.

0.7mm coil-coated · ~2.3kg/m² · A1 non-combustible · 40-year warranty

ABODO Vulcan Timber

New Zealand

Thermally modified radiata pine, engineered with a patented vertical-grain construction. The 230°C modification process drives out the resins that would otherwise leach or discolour, leaving a stable, deep brown timber with a 30-year expected service life — performance you’d otherwise need a slow-grown hardwood to match. FSC-certified, and carbon-negative across its production cycle.

Thermally modified radiata pine · Class 1 durability (EN350-1) · 30-year expected life · FSC certified

Galvanised Steel

Corrugated profile

Zinc-coated corrugated steel — the most economical and proven cladding on this list. The corrugated profile adds real structural rigidity while shedding water efficiently, and a quality coating routinely delivers 30–40 years of service even in coastal air. We specify it where a robust, low-maintenance exterior matters more than a feature finish.

Zinc-coated steel · corrugated profile · 30–40+ year service life

Sauna Interior

Timber Cladding

Cedar

Western Red

The benchmark sauna interior timber, for good reason: naturally resistant to rot and insects, low in resin, and low enough in thermal conductivity that a cedar bench never gets too hot to sit on directly. Its aromatic scent is part of the ritual itself, and its warm reddish tone is the timber most people picture when they imagine a sauna.

Naturally rot-resistant · low thermal conductivity · aromatic

Alder

Black Alder

The quieter alternative to cedar — pale, tight-grained, and almost entirely free of knots. Unlike pine, it releases no resin or sap when heated, which matters directly against bare skin on a hot bench. Alder holds its shape well through repeated heat and humidity cycling, ageing to a soft honey tone rather than darkening dramatically.

Knot-free · no resin release under heat · stable through humidity cycling

Heating

HUUM Drop

Drop 6

Estonia · 6kW

A 6kW wall-mounted electric heater built for rooms between roughly 5 and 10m³. Its water-drop silhouette holds up to 55kg of sauna stones in direct contact with the heating elements — more exposed stone than a conventional heater, for softer, longer-held löyly. Wi-Fi compatible via HUUM’s UKU control, so the room can be brought to temperature before you arrive.

6kW · rooms 5–10m³ (177–353 ft³) · 55kg stone capacity · Wi-Fi compatible

Drop 9

Estonia · 9kW

The larger sibling to the Drop 6: same stainless-steel water-drop form and stone capacity, scaled up to 9kW for rooms between roughly 8 and 13m³. This is the heater specified for the standard Sünd pod’s sauna half — sized to bring the room to temperature efficiently without oversizing the electrical draw.

9kW · rooms 8–13m³ (283–460 ft³) · 55–60kg stone capacity · Wi-Fi compatible

Glazing

Light & Safety Glass

Velux Fixed Skylight

Roof-mounted

A fixed, non-opening roof window, available across a wide range of sizes to suit the pod’s roofline. High-performance glazing options include Low-E3 coatings and argon gas fill, bringing overhead natural light into the space without the added complexity of a venting mechanism — light is the only job this window has to do.

Fixed (non-venting) · Low-E3 glazing available · multiple sizes

Tempered Glass

Shower screen & partitions

Toughened safety glass, heat-treated to be roughly four times stronger than standard annealed glass and engineered to break into small, blunt granules rather than sharp shards if it ever fails. Specified to AS/NZS 2208 and installed per AS 1288 for the shower screen and any glazed partitions — 10mm is our standard for a frameless install, holding its shape without a metal frame breaking up the line of the space.

10mm toughened · AS/NZS 2208 · frameless install

Flooring

Limestone

Limestone Tiles

Wet area / plunge surround

A natural stone with a cool, dense underfoot feel that pairs particularly well with the cold-plunge side of the pod. Limestone is porous and needs sealing in a wet installation, but in exchange it offers a honed, slip-resistant surface and a soft, neutral tone that sits naturally alongside the timber and aluminium finishes elsewhere in the build.

Natural stone · honed slip-resistant finish · sealed for wet areas

A Real Configuration

The Flagship Build

Rather than list every option in the abstract, here is one real, complete specification — the current flagship configuration.

Shower Fixture

Brass — front-left wall

Sauna Interior

Light Timber Cladding

Accent Corner

ABODO Timber Cladding

Ceiling