The warming hut should be something that is evocative on many levels. In a tactile sense we would like users to pet it, a soft green surface in an otherwise icy landscape. On another level it should respond and relate to the environment of the Forks that it occupies. The wood frames of canoes that once traversed the Red and Assiniboine Rivers inspire the form and structure of the hut. Sphagnum moss, more commonly known as Peat Moss, is held in trays that are inserted into the frame. In direct relation to the living moss cladding, the sole wall of the hut is made of stacked sod peat bricks.

Peat moss and its derivatives have had a particularly rich history in Canada and the Northern Hemisphere, used historically as a building material (the way we use it here), but also for insulation, preservation, medication, decoration and as fuel (it still is today). Beyond acting as structure and cladding the moss serves as a symbol for a much greater issue, that of the natural environments of the peat bogs in Canada and the issues surrounding the commercial peat moss industry today.