Our Story
The hammam was built by volunteers to provide a public bath/ sauna house that can be used for groups and which offers good quality turkish massage & scrubs and other health /beauty services , in the center of Bergen. It replaced a previously illegal brothel in the aim to provide a family friendly REAL massage place. All the building was done by many volunteers from the yoga studio earlier run in the same location. The masseurs however are experienced professionals but some of the staff work on a volunteer basis and anyone is very welcome to volunteer in reception for some free membership deal. We function and are registered as a non profit organisation. Consequently we offer a year membership with unlimited entry for 1900kr (beginning 2020) to make the facility as accessible as possible to all Bergeners.
Some facts about Bergen Hammam:
The hammam is entirely handbuilt and designed, it took more than 5000 hours over 2 years with no overall plan so each section is customised to make the best use of the space, the budget and materials available at the time of building.
Over 650 000 individual pieces are used to decorate the area in over 200 different colours. The funding came from the yoga classes provided in the yoga centre run by our European Yoga forrening.
40% of the materials used for the hammam decoration were recycled , that includes: concrete, steel reinforcments, tiling, sinks and toilets, and much of the cabling sound and lighting equipment.
Stones collected from beaches around Bergen are used to decorate the Hammam entrance.
We innovated to use waste plastic piping , recirculated waterproof paneling and scrap timber and produce the decorative arches , benches,fountain, sinks and pillars.
The toilets, wash basins and mirrors are recirculated from building site waste collected round Bergen.
The coloured decorative elements of the ceilings, tree and the sinks on the spa bench are made of made of color samples donated by Norflis tiling shop (thank you Norflis!).
Around 53 Light emitting diode (LED) lamps are used to illuminate the whole area with a total power of under 200W, the same as 2 standard light bulbs. These bulbs cost less to operate and last upwards of 10 years in continuous use.
The maximum heating output of the Hammam exceeds 20 000W. Ecological as well as economical "inverter" heating systems and electronic heat control in the steam room means savings of up to 15 000W or near 75% on the heating bills.
The ventilation sytem fitted in the entire area pumps in fresh air all day long to make the area safe to work in as well as hygenic. A heat exchanger also returns 83% of the heat into the building.
Our aim is to welcome you to the most environmentally friendly spa in Norway, and wish you a great experience with great service at great prices!