The accessibility requirements Kindling builds to today, and asks its suppliers to meet. Published openly as the Sauna Access Initiative's starting point, so it can be argued with and improved.
Section 01
This baseline applies to every sauna, not only those designated wheelchair accessible. Each point is inexpensive when it is designed in from the start, and costly to retrofit afterwards.
The first available seat should be as close to the door as possible. A short, direct route from door to bench matters for anyone who finds walking, balancing or standing in heat tiring, and it means nobody has to cross the cabin before they can sit down. It also keeps the way out short for anyone who needs to leave quickly.
Where bench or floor heights change, there should be visual contrast between the surfaces. An edge that blends into the timber around it is effectively invisible to bathers with a visual impairment, and easy for anyone to misjudge in dim, steamy light. The edge should be distinguishable from what sits above and below it.
Where a sauna is specified as wheelchair accessible, the interior must include a 1.5m turning circle. That is the space needed to turn and reposition a wheelchair without reversing blind or depending on help. It should be genuinely clear floor, not space borrowed from under a bench or across the swing of the door.
Any walking distance over 1m should have something to hold onto. Handles and grab rails give a steadying point to bathers managing balance, strength or fatigue, and to anyone moving across a wet floor in heat. Placement matters as much as presence: a rail should run the length of the route rather than appear at one end of it.
Grab rails should be installed to help customers climb up benches or steps. Climbing to an upper bench is where a fall is most likely, so rails should be positioned for that movement specifically, letting someone pull up and lower back down under control rather than bracing against a bench edge or another bather.
Section 02
Kindling's wheelchair accessible sauna design is not intended to retain users in their wheelchairs within the sauna, but to enable safe, dignified transfer from a wheelchair to sauna seating. We also want people with restricted mobility to be able to access our sauna facilities, and that means considering more than access to the sauna while still in a wheelchair.
Suppliers must demonstrate a clear understanding of transfer-based accessibility, inclusive design principles, and relevant UK accessibility guidance. All requirements below should be treated as mandatory unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Where alternative approaches are proposed, these must be clearly set out and agreed during design sign-off.
This is a starting point, and it is meant to be argued with. If you have lived experience or expertise that would change any of it, the initiative wants to hear from you.