Unit 12 is coming to life, and why we chose Hitchin to build it
If you’d walked past Unit 12 on Knowl Piece a few months ago, you probably wouldn’t have looked twice. A quiet industrial unit just off Wilbury Way, with plain walls, concrete floors and not much to see.
Walk past now and you might hear drills.
Behind that door, something special is taking shape. Hitchin’s new home for heat and cold is being built panel by panel and pipe by pipe. And honestly, we can hardly contain ourselves.
because it’s home….
Join us on the journey :)
The build
We’re deep into the fit out, and every week the space looks less like an empty unit and more like the place we’ve been imagining for what feels like years.
The walls are going up around the sauna. The plumbing is being installed for the showers and cold plunges. Yes, plural. The floors, lighting and finishes are all starting to come together, along with the little corner where you’ll soon be sitting wrapped in a towel, cup of tea in hand, slowly forgetting to check your phone.
There’s something surreal about standing in the middle of it all.
For so long, YOU Sauna existed in spreadsheets, sketches and late night conversations between the two of us. Now it smells of sawdust and fresh timber, and we get to watch it become real. We still catch each other standing there, grinning.
We’ll be sharing the progress as we go, including the exciting bits, the dusty bits and the occasional “why is there a hole there?” moment, over on Instagram, so come and follow along.
So…why Hitchin?
The easy answer is because Hitchin is home.
We are two locals who wanted to bring something to the town that we both love and have enjoyed for a long time.
From the very beginning, the response to YOU Sauna has been incredible. Local mums, runners, gym members, wellness teachers, business owners and people simply looking for a place to slow down have supported the idea, shared our posts, joined our list and told us how much Hitchin needs a space like this.
That support gave us the confidence to keep going.
We kept asking the same question:
Why should we have to travel to London for a proper sauna and cold plunge experience?
Hitchin already has an amazing community. Runners are out on the lanes every weekend. Local gyms are full of people who train hard and care about their recovery. Parents, hello, us, are often one school run away from needing 45 minutes to breathe and reset.
There are also people who simply want to feel better, switch off for a while, meet others or try sauna and cold plunge for the first time in a welcoming local space.
YOU Sauna is being built for all of them.
What started as an idea between the two of us is already becoming something much bigger, shaped and supported by the people around us.
That place is now being built, right here in Hitchin.
And why Knowl Piece?
When we first viewed Unit 12, we saw past the concrete straight away.
It had space. Proper space. A generous sauna with real stone heat, done right. Water is poured over hot stones to create the soft wave of steam the Finns call löyly, just as the Nordics have done for centuries. Cold plunges to test your nerve and reset your head. Warm showers and a calm space to rest and chat, or not chat, because both are welcome. Every session is designed around one simple idea: everyone deserves a place to slow down.
We’re tucked just off Wilbury Way, only a few minutes from Hitchin town centre, with parking directly outside. You can arrive with your wet hair standards already lowered and leave with your post sauna glow intact, without a long walk back to the car.
There’s also something we’ve grown to love about Knowl Piece. It’s unassuming.
You won’t accidentally wander in while shopping on the high street. You’ll come here on purpose, to switch off, warm up, cool down and feel good.
That’s exactly the kind of place we wanted to create.
What’s coming
We’re working towards opening in early September, and when the doors open, you’ll find:
A proper, generous sauna with real heat, done right. Cold plunges to test your nerve and reset your head. Warm showers, a calm space to rest and chat, or not chat, because both are welcome, and sessions designed around one simple idea:
Everyone deserves a place to slow down, recover and feel good.
We’ll be sharing our session types and pricing very soon, including our Founding Member offers, which will be limited to the first 80 members.
For first access, join the list. You’ll hear everything from us before we share it more widely.
Until then, if you’re passing Knowl Piece and hear drilling, that’s the sound of your new favourite place being built.
See you in the heat very soon.
Aggie & Monika
Co founders, YOU Sauna Hitchin
YOU belong here. ♡