Architectural design can be as playful as a child's imagination and still be taken seriously. Coated in a sunny yellow and candy-colored circular openings, "The Hole Idea -- Now in Technicolor" in Winnipeg is a snow tunnel that may seem like a kids-only zone at first glance, but is an engaging installation that can spark the curiosity of anyone who is trudging by in the snow. Since it was first installed in January after winning the popular Warming Huts 2015 competition, The Hole Idea has attracted visitors of all ages. The project's success continues with its recent win of an Ontario Association Of Architects Award.

Designed by Toronto-based Weiss Architecture + Urbanism, the playful concept for The Hole Idea -- which was named after a 1955 Looney Tune animation of the same name -- evokes childhood memories of Saturday morning cartoons, colorful playgrounds, and building snow forts.

The firm worked alongside Blackwell Engineering and the Canada Culvert fabrication team to complete the corrugated steel pipe construction in time for the start of Winnipeg's skating season. The design was placed along the city's natural skating track and then covered in two feet of snow, enough so that only the tunnel's yellow opening and the colored pipe openings at the top would show. The tunnel also includes a wooden bench so that people can take refuge from the cold winds...or just take a break from playing.

While firm principal Kevin Weiss is aware that many assume The Hole Idea -- in all its bright colored playground whimsy -- is for children, the design wasn't specific to that. Rather, the Weiss team took the opportunity in the Warming Huts competition to "create an architecture of play, silliness, and spontaneity" that could bring a little more joy even in the dead of winter.  According to Weiss, "'These traits, perhaps childish to some, are the traits that can make urban life wonderful and are very fitting for Winnipeg’s exuberant and renowned celebration of winter living...'"

Project Credits

Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Client: The Forks Renewal Corporation
Design Team: Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited - Kevin Weiss, Principal; Sophie Tremblay, Project Architect; Mina Hanna
Structural Engineer: Blackwell, David Bowick
Technical Advisor: Punch Clock Metal Works
Fabricator: Canada Culvert
Photography: Leif Norman

Previously: Winners of Warming Huts v.2015