The sweat lodge was built by John Locke underneath the uncompleted church that was being built by Mr. Eko and Charlie. Locke began construction on the sweat lodge immediately after returning to the beach. He used pieces of his shelter to construct it. Locke was mute after the implosion of the hatch, and needed a way to speak to the island. Locke made the mistake of destroying the computer inside the hatch and prevented Eko or Desmond from pushing the button resulting in the implosion.