Saunas & cold plunges in Stone Town

Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a pedestrian one. Nothing arrives by vehicle, nothing changes on the outside, and everything inside has to be detailed into walls that are older than any of us.

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Hand carry, priced honestly

Panels, stone, sand and plant come by handcart and shoulder through lanes narrow enough to touch both walls. We walk and photograph the route before quoting, size every component to the tightest turn, and price the carry as its own line rather than burying it in materials.

On a Stone Town job that line is the difference between a two-week and a three-week programme, and hiding it helps nobody.

Outside is fixed; inside is not

A new flue, a unit on a facade, a changed roofline — all of that is a conversation with the conservation authority and usually a short one. Internally there is real freedom, and these buildings suit wet rooms: thick coral walls, courtyards, high ceilings and drainage that already exists.

The carved doors these houses are known for are protected and, frankly, worth protecting. We work around them and take cues from them rather than imitating them in new joinery.

Absorbent walls need continuous membrane

Coral rag and old lime plaster drink water. A steam room or a wet area here needs a liquid membrane that is genuinely continuous and properly detailed at every junction with the existing structure. That detailing is most of the skill and most of the cost, and it is where other people's installations fail.

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