A pioneering sustainable project in East London is preparing to launch a unique community initiative: the world's first "community powered" sauna, heated using methane gas generated from local kitchen scraps.
The sauna will open at the R-Urban Poplar civic space, which functions as an environmental "living lab" where residents experiment with urban food production and climate adaptation strategies.
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An anaerobic digester on site will process food waste collected from residents of the neighboring Teviot estate, producing biogas to heat the sauna.
"As far as we are aware this is the UK's – and the world's – first community powered sauna," says Andy Belfield, an architect from the R-Urban Poplar team.
Nine years ago, the location was merely an unused car park filled with empty garages.
Today, it features thriving no-dig allotment beds, community growing spaces, and a dedicated mushroom farm.
Organizers view the project as an ecology hub, integrating circular urban farming, educational workshops, a tool library, and a community kitchen to foster collective resilience against climate breakdown.
"That's why this site is particularly interesting," says Elle McAll from the Women's Environmental Network (Wen), which has co-funded and coordinated the initiative over the past five years.
"It's combining the technology and the technical side with the community building, the community side. Addressing the climate crisis isn't about just those technical solutions in isolation.
Sites like this really show the possibility of bringing those things together."
R-Urban Poplar is one of 26 green spaces managed under a wider initiative led by Wen, aiming to establish an environmentally sustainable, community-led food network across Tower Hamlets.
