Saunas & cold plunges in Zamalek

Zamalek is old Cairo on an island: beautiful buildings, small lifts, narrow stairwells and structures that were never designed for what we are carrying up them.

Book a site visit All of Egypt

The lift and the stairwell decide the design

Before we quote anything here we measure the lift car, the landing turn and the first three metres of stair. A 2.4 m panel that will not turn on a landing is an expensive lesson, so cabins in Zamalek are usually built in smaller sections with more site assembly.

Where there is no lift at all, everything goes up by hand and that is a labour line in the quote rather than a surprise.

Old structures

Many buildings here predate modern concrete practice. A cabin is light and almost always fine; a plunge tub full of water is nearly a tonne on a small footprint and needs a structural opinion before we will install it.

On roof terraces we spread the load over walls rather than mid-span and use steel feet that also lift the timber clear of standing water.

The view is the product

A roof terrace in Zamalek looks over the Nile. Orient the glass to it, keep the cabin low enough not to annoy neighbours, and the room sells itself every evening.

Questions