[DES!GN TALK!] SHIBUYA SAUNAS: Brand Sells Recovery in the City 03

SHIBUYA SAUNAS: Designing Time as a Business

Hello, I’m Hyojae Kim, a designer based in Seoul.

In the previous article, I looked at how the different sauna rooms and cold baths at Shibuya SAUNAS are designed to create the sensory experience of totonou. This time, I want to look at the space from a more practical point of view. As both a spatial designer and someone interested in business, I found the way Shibuya SAUNAS structures its time-based usage and pricing model particularly interesting. A successful spatial business does not end with a beautiful interior. It needs to consider why customers visit, how much they are willing to pay, how long they stay, what they spend money on while they are there, and what gives them a reason to return.

ⓒ Daisuke Shima / ad hoc

The Core Product Is “Time Spent in the Sauna”

The standard admission fee at Shibuya SAUNAS is ¥3,200 on weekdays and ¥3,900 on weekends, public holidays, and designated special days. The standard usage time is set at 2 hours and 30 minutes for men and 3 hours and 30 minutes for women, based on the revised pricing structure introduced on April 1, 2025.

What is interesting about these numbers is that Shibuya SAUNAS is not simply selling “access to a sauna.” What it actually sells is a block of recovery time within the city, during which the user moves through sauna, cold bath, outdoor rest, relaxation, food and beverage, and even work. In that sense, the admission fee is both a facility fee and a time-based product. Customers pay ¥3,200 or ¥3,900 to purchase a period in which they can reset their body and mind in the middle of the city.

Time-Based Pricing Is Also a Way to Design Turnover

The pricing structure reveals a clear strategy around different times of day. On weekday mornings, an 80-minute morning plan costs ¥1,900, while the equivalent weekend, holiday, and special-day price is ¥2,600. A late-night one-hour plan after 11:00 PM follows the same pricing: ¥1,900 on weekdays and ¥2,600 on weekends and holidays.

This is a very practical structure. The morning plan captures customers looking for a quick reset before work, while the late-night plan targets people who want to decompress at the end of the day. At the other end of the spectrum, weekday visitors entering between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM can choose a five-hour Day Sauna plan for ¥3,200, allowing for much longer stays. The business therefore accommodates both short-stay and long-stay customers. In spatial business, the important question is not simply what one fixed price should be, but how different customer needs can be divided according to time, purpose, and usage pattern.

Extension Fees Turn Longer Stays into Revenue

If visitors stay beyond the standard usage time, Shibuya SAUNAS charges an additional ¥800 per hour. After four additional hours, a ¥3,200 free-extension fee applies. This is an important part of the business model because when customers want to stay longer, that additional time naturally becomes additional revenue.

That extra time can be spent doing another sauna cycle, having a meal, working in the workspace, or simply talking with someone. A longer stay does not only mean that a customer is occupying space for more time. It can also indicate that the experience is good enough to continue, that there is greater potential for additional spending, and that the customer is spending more time in contact with the brand.

ⓒ Daisuke Shima / ad hoc

Workspace and Meeting Rooms Expand the Reason to Visit

One of the most interesting features of Shibuya SAUNAS is its workspace and meeting-room program. According to its early launch materials, the facility includes a 45-seat workspace as well as meeting rooms for six and eight people. Based on the current official reservation page, meeting rooms can be booked from ¥1,320 per hour, for up to five hours. Admission fees for each participant and any additional extension charges are calculated separately.

This part of the model is especially revealing. Instead of expecting customers to leave immediately after using the sauna, the space encourages them to stay, work, hold meetings, and continue spending time there while still in a recovered state. As a result, the reasons for visiting become much broader. The space can accommodate someone coming alone for a sauna, someone opening a laptop to work, a team holding a meeting, or a group looking for a short urban retreat. At that point, the venue stops being a single-purpose facility and becomes a platform for multiple use scenarios.

F&B and Merchandise Create the Final Touchpoints

According to the official visitor information, the restaurant at Shibuya SAUNAS accepts food orders from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, drinks from 9:00 AM to 10:30 PM, and donuts from 11:00 AM to 10:30 PM. Purchases are charged to the wristband given to each guest at entry, with the total settled together with the admission fee when leaving.

This system keeps the customer journey uninterrupted. After the sauna, visitors can have a drink, eat something light, browse merchandise, and pay for everything at once when they leave. For the customer, it is convenient. For the operator, it makes additional spending feel more natural.

Merchandise also plays an important role. According to the official guide, original Shibuya SAUNAS goods are sold at the shop next to the first-floor reception. These products are not simply souvenirs. They allow customers to take a piece of the experience home with them, extending the brand beyond the physical space itself.

Reading the Business Model Through Numbers

When Shibuya SAUNAS is viewed through its numbers, the structure becomes relatively clear. Standard admission is ¥3,200 on weekdays and ¥3,900 on weekends. Standard usage time is 2 hours and 30 minutes for men and 3 hours and 30 minutes for women. Shorter morning and late-night plans create lower-price entry points. The weekday Day Sauna plan allows for five hours of use. Additional stay is monetized at ¥800 per hour. Meeting rooms begin at ¥1,320 per hour and can be booked for up to five hours. Food, drinks, and merchandise are then integrated into the same wristband payment flow.

These numbers are not simply a price list. They represent an operational design: how quickly the space should turn over, what type of customer should be attracted at different times of day, where additional spending should occur, and how the business can create reasons for people to come back.

Good Spaces Ultimately Design Time

What I found most practical about Shibuya SAUNAS is the way it interprets the sauna as a time-based business. The sauna rooms and cold baths are the core product, but much of the real business potential lies in what happens before and after them. How long can visitors be encouraged to stay? What can they do while they are there? What additional consumption can be attached naturally to that time? And most importantly, what makes them want to return?

Shibuya SAUNAS has fairly clear answers to these questions. Visitors recover in the middle of the city, work while still in that recovered state, spend money on food, drinks, and merchandise, and then return to everyday life. The entire sequence becomes one integrated product.

For spatial design to become a viable business, it ultimately needs to move beyond creating beautiful scenes and begin designing the user’s time. In that respect, Shibuya SAUNAS is a highly useful case study.

In the next article, I will look at how SAUNAS, which began in Shibuya, is expanding into a larger urban wellness platform at Takanawa Gateway City.

Thank you for reading.