A custom sauna in Dubai costs AED 65,000 to 260,000 turnkey, takes eight to fourteen weeks, and is built around three decisions that no catalogue can make for you: the bench layout for the people who will use it, the amount of glass, and the heater and ventilation that make the room work behind an air-conditioned door. This page explains how we design and build custom saunas across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and what each decision costs.
What a custom sauna from Sauna Dubai includes
Every custom sauna project is one contract with one team responsible for the result. The scope covers:
- Design set: plan, sections, bench elevations, electrical single-line diagram, load calculation, ventilation layout and a 3D visualisation of the finished room.
- Approvals: the DEWA, ADDC or SEWA submission for the dedicated heater circuit, and the community NOC where the master developer requires it.
- Manufacture to drawing: wall panels, benches, backrests, headrests, door and glass produced to drawing by the European workshops our team has worked with since 2003.
- Heater and controls: Harvia, EOS, Tylö, Helo or Sentiotec, with a wall control or an app-connected control unit sized for the room.
- Installation: framing, insulation, vapour barrier, ventilation, timber, glass, lighting, heater and safety rail, fitted by our own team in three to five days.
- Commissioning: first heat-up with you in the room, temperature check at the upper bench, control walkthrough, service schedule and a two-year workmanship warranty.
What is not included is the room shell itself if it does not exist yet, and a DB board upgrade where the villa supply is genuinely full. Both are identified at the free site visit, never after delivery.
Sizes and configurations we build most often
| Seats | Internal footprint | Ceiling | Heater | Supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2–3 | 1.8 × 1.6 m | 2.1 m | 6 kW | single or three-phase |
| 4–5 | 2.4 × 2.0 m | 2.2 m | 8–9 kW | three-phase |
| 6–8 with upper bench | 3.0 × 2.4 m | 2.3 m | 10.5–12 kW | three-phase |
| 8–10 with glass wall | 3.6 × 2.6 m | 2.3 m | 15 kW or two heaters | three-phase |
The footprint matters less than the bench geometry. A sauna where the upper bench sits at least 1.0 m below the ceiling and 600 mm deep is a sauna people lie down in; one with a token upper shelf is a sauna people leave after six minutes. We draw the benches first and the walls around them.
Materials that survive an air-conditioned villa
Dubai villas are dry inside. A living area held at 22 °C by the AC often sits at 20 to 30 % relative humidity, far drier than a Helsinki apartment in winter. Untreated softwood shrinks, gaps open at the tongue-and-groove, and boards cup. We specify for that:
- Thermo-treated aspen for wall linings and benches. The heat treatment removes the moisture that would otherwise leave the board over the first summer, so it stays flat. No resin, no splinters, a warm honey colour that photographs well.
- Western red cedar as an alternative lining where the scent is wanted. Slightly more movement, so we use narrower boards and floating fixings.
- Alder for a pale, almost white interior that suits contemporary villas in Dubai Hills Estate and Tilal Al Ghaf.
- Floating panel fixings rather than nailed boards, so the timber can move seasonally without splitting.
- Tempered glass, 8 mm for doors, 10 mm for full-height walls, with stainless hardware that does not corrode in coastal Jumeirah air.
- Hidden LED under the benches and behind the backrest, IP-rated for the temperature zone, never a bare fitting above the heater.
The full argument for each species is in our best sauna wood for the UAE climate guide.
Heaters, power and DEWA
The heater is sized from the room volume, then corrected for glass and for stone. The rule we use on site is roughly 1 kW per cubic metre of room, plus 30 % for every large glass wall, plus 10 % for any uninsulated stone surface. A 2.4 × 2.0 × 2.2 m sauna is 10.6 m³ and gets a 9 kW heater; the same room with a glass wall gets 10.5 or 12 kW.
Anything above about 4.5 kW needs a dedicated circuit on the DB board and a DEWA load-change submission through a registered consultant. Most villas in Emirates Hills, Arabian Ranches and Dubai Hills have 200 to 400 A supplies with room to spare; the check takes ten minutes with the DB board open, and we do it at the first visit. Heat-resistant SiHF cable, an isolator outside the room, an RCD on the circuit and a proper earth are non-negotiable. Our DEWA approval guide describes the paperwork step by step, and the heater sizing guide shows the arithmetic.
What a custom sauna costs in Dubai
| Configuration | Turnkey range (AED) |
|---|---|
| 2–3 seats, timber door, 6 kW heater | 65,000 – 90,000 |
| 4–5 seats, glass door, 9 kW heater | 90,000 – 140,000 |
| 6–8 seats, upper bench, glass front | 140,000 – 200,000 |
| 8–10 seats, full glass wall, two heaters | 200,000 – 260,000 |
Five things move the number: glass area, heater brand and control type, bench timber, lighting and audio integration, and whether the room shell exists. The pricing page lists every room we build, and the quotation you sign is a fixed scope after the site visit, not an estimate.
How we build it, from Palm Jumeirah to Arabian Ranches
The pattern repeats across the city. A client in Palm Jumeirah wants the sauna to face the water, so the drawing starts with a 10 mm glass wall and a heater that can cope with it. A family in Arabian Ranches wants four seats and a low running cost, so the room is timber-walled with a 9 kW heater on a timer. A penthouse owner in Downtown Dubai has a three-phase supply but a strict building management, so the design set is written for the NOC as much as for the factory.
Each project runs the same eight steps: WhatsApp photos, a free site visit, a concept with a budget band, the design set with 3D view, a fixed quotation, manufacture, installation and commissioning. Timelines and payment terms are on the process page.
Ventilation, dust and the cooling-down problem
Three things go wrong with imported saunas in the Gulf, and all three are ventilation. First, the fresh-air inlet is put on an outside wall, so in July the sauna breathes 45 °C dusty air and the heater never rests. We draw the inlet from the air-conditioned room instead, low behind the heater, with a filtered grille. Second, the exhaust is forgotten and the room goes stale and damp; we fit a mechanical exhaust that runs after the session to dry the timber. Third, there is nowhere cold to go afterwards. The sauna is half of the experience; the other half is a cold shower two steps from the door, or better, a cold plunge. Most of our villa projects end up as a sauna with a plunge, and many grow into a full villa wellness suite.
Why owners choose a custom build with us
- The room is drawn for the people who use it, not adapted from a stock cabin.
- Electrical drawings and the DEWA submission are part of the price.
- Timber and fixings are chosen for Dubai’s indoor dryness and outdoor heat, and we put that in writing.
- One team installs and the same team comes back for the annual service.
- Two years on workmanship, manufacturer warranty on the heater, and a service technician who answers.
Send photos of the room and a picture of the DB board on WhatsApp. A designer will reply the same day with the sizes that fit, the heater it needs and a budget band in AED.
