The RetroModern Process

A paid working session — by video or in person, depending on geography — to establish the brief. We discuss the room, the typology, the shell condition, and the household’s bath ritual. We ask about water source, electrical capacity, and ventilation. We ask what the room has to do on the worst day of the year.

We leave the consultation with a one-page brief and a working scope. If the project proceeds, the consultation fee is credited against the design package.

We resolve the room in plan. Typology decisions are made here — hammam or steam, Finnish or hybrid sauna, sequential circuit or single room. We test two or three plan options against the shell, the circulation, and the brief, and we converge on one.

This is the step at which the thermal logic of the room is set. Bench heights, ceiling slope, vapor flow, and the position of the heat source are sketched, modeled, and discussed. The contractor or the architect is brought in at the end of this step for a coordination check.

We move from plan to elevation, section, and material. The SketchUp model is built out — every wall, every bench, every fixture in its true position. Lighting enters here, with circuits, color temperature, and dimming. Ventilation is sized to the room and the use, and the mechanical chase is located.

This is the longest single step. Materials are specified by grade, finish, format, and source. Fixtures are chosen and locked. The schedule begins to take shape. We meet weekly for review and decision.

We produce the documents your contractor will build from. Renderings are generated from the SketchUp model so the room you see is the room that is drawn. The drawing set is issued as a coordinated PDF, with the SketchUp file released alongside.

The document set is the deliverable. It is what we sign off on, and it is what the bid is built against. It includes everything to the right of this paragraph.

We sit with you and the contractor through bid review. We answer the questions a builder asks of a document set — substrate calls, vapor barrier details, drain falls, fixture lead times, sourcing. We translate the schedule into a procurement plan.

This step is included in every design package. If the project moves to a second contractor or to a re-bid, the same coverage applies.

We source the elements that general suppliers do not stock. EPS thermal benches are built in our shop and shipped in shaped sections. Stone is cut to the schedule’s dimensions. Fixtures and hardware are placed against the specification, with confirmation of lead time before deposit.

This step runs in parallel with the build, not after it. We coordinate with the contractor on delivery windows and site readiness, and we field-verify any element that has to land on a tolerance.