Reset opens in Islington with sauna, ice baths and breathwork studio

Reset has opened in Islington with a setup that looks built for a program, not a quick dip. The 3,000-square-foot venue, which opened on May 22, 2026, centers on a 34-person traditional Finnish sauna, eight cold plunges split into four doubles and four singles, and chilling units that keep the water between 1 and 9 degrees Celsius.

Founder Oliver Horsford says the project grew out of his own burnout after a decade running charter and private vessels. He described breathwork and contrast therapy as practices that “changed everything” for him and helped him recover from disconnection, and said Reset was meant to fill a gap in London for people who want more than a one-off cold exposure. The differentiator is the dedicated breathwork studio, which Horsford sees as the key distinction from other contrast-therapy spaces.

The experience is built to move people through a sequence. Reset offers a free-roam single session, where guests can move between the sauna, cold plunges and breathwork lounge without formal guidance, and a guided session led by an expert who shapes the pace toward energizing, balancing or restoring. The two-hour session starts with 20 minutes of contrast therapy together, then moves into facilitated breathwork before opening back into free-roam time. Pricing starts at £24 for peak-time 60-minute access or 75 minutes off-peak, while the two-hour guided format costs £40.

Reset’s design also pushes it beyond a basic recovery room. Alongside the sauna and plunges, the building includes an alcohol-free bar, water fountains, adaptogenic elixirs and teas, making the venue feel closer to a curated ritual space than a gym add-on. Horsford practices conscious connected breathwork, the Wim Hof Method and SOMA techniques, and that blend of methods is baked into the business model.

The timing fits a London scene that has already moved contrast therapy into the mainstream. The Standard has framed alternating between saunas and ice baths as a centuries-old wellness practice that has also become a social alternative to going to the pub. The British Journal of Sports Medicine has called cold-water immersion a hot topic with an explosion in participation, while also noting that the scientific rationale is still not clear and safety matters. NHS guidance defines hypothermia as a body temperature below 35C and treats it as a medical emergency.

Reset follows an earlier 1Rebel contrast-therapy concept and arrives as other recovery brands, including U.S. franchise Pause with Alo Moves, have paired sauna, cold plunge, breathwork and meditation into packaged sessions. In that context, Reset feels like a sign that cold exposure is moving from solo biohacking toward coached, social contrast therapy with a set rhythm, a clear price and a room full of people doing it together.