A new £17.50 sauna and cold plunge is set to open in a south west London park

If approved, the sauna will be in the northern corner of Crystal Palace Park (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto) If one thing that Londoners love right now, it’s saunas. Accompanied by a bracing cold plunge, it’s a way to catch up at the weekend or unwind after a busy day at work. Under railway arches and in parks across the city, these wellness spaces have been popping up in huge numbers. Over the past three years, the number of public saunas in the UK has increased by 1,900% – jumping from just 45 to somewhere around 850. And now, Crystal Palace Park is set to become the latest location for one of the capital’s hottest sauna companies. Planning documents from Bromley Council show Community Sauna Baths has put in an application to host a new site in SE19, where the old Rockhills Caravan Park once stood. The application has been put in on a temporary basis. The vision is that the saunas would be there for five years, and being converted back into public space. If approved, there’d be four saunas, plunge pools, and showers. However, it’s worth keeping in mind there’s no opening date yet, since the plans are still in the works (so for now, hold off on buying a new jazzy sauna hat). The not-for-profit already has sites in Camberwell, Hackney Wick, Peckham, Stratford, and Walthamstow, each one hosting a few different saunas and steam rooms, plus plunge pools and hot tea on tap. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. It’s based around a belief that the sauna is sacred, and shouldn’t have any barriers. With that in mind, it offers discounted sessions to those in need. The company also runs various sessions, including storytelling, sound baths, yoga, and queer poetry, plus dedicated groups for women and LGBTQ+ people. Latest London news Crystal Palace Park could soon have not one, but four saunas (Picture: Community Sauna Baths) Sessions typically cost around the £17.40 mark during peak hours, with discounts available for members and lower off-peak prices. So far, Crystal Palace locals have submitted comments on the planning portal, and many of them are hugely in favour. One wrote: ‘I’m a regular park user and local resident, and strongly support this application. This would be an ideal, unobtrusive location for a community sauna, creating a new asset in an underused part of the park.’ Another reckoned it would be a ‘welcome addition in wellbeing for the local community,’ adding they’d ‘been wanting to see a community sauna built here for a long time now,’ while others spoke of benefits for ‘wellbeing, connection and community life.’ It comes at a time of wider regeneration for Crystal Palace Park. Earlier this year, the beloved Crystal Palace Park dinosaurs – built during the Victorian period – got some much-needed TLC. The animals have had barely any maintenance since they were first built, almost 200 years ago. So, it was time, considering these giant beasts have stood in the park since Queen Victoria was on the throne. They’re still Grade I listed, and there are still 30 of them, including the Dicynodon, the Mosasaurus, and the Teleosaurus. Yep, no T-Rex in sight. Completed this summer, the project also includes restoring the Italian terraces, adding a new dinosaur-themed playground, a new visitor centre, and improved lighting. So, the rest is yet to come. Plus, the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre is in the middle of a rejig. After more than 60 years of service, the leisure centre has seen better days — its swimming pool and iconic diving board were both closed in 2020 due to structural cracks. With an investment worth a staggering £23,000,000, plans were approved by Bromley Council earlier this year to transform the building (including its indoor arena and outdoor athletics track). There’ll also be new facilities, including a larger gym, dedicated activity spaces for sports clubs, a six-court padel centre, three basketball courts, multiple five-a-side football pitches, and another artificial pitch. Our Top Shopping Picks See London's Christmas lights from an open-top double-decker bus this winter My skin always suffers when the heating goes on but this serum changed that The skincare formula that finally took the guesswork out of my routine Families can save up to 20% on summer 2027 holidays in Club Med's four-day sale Cold mornings are coming and this is the dressing gown I want to live in If it all goes to plan, it’ll be opening in 2028 – so locals will be able to get a workout in, as well as a sauna sesh. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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