British design firm OS31 will build a pop-up restaurant on a frozen river

A British design firm has won a hotly-contested competition to build a cosy space in one of the coldest places in the world, according to Treehugger.

It’s too frosty to enjoy many outdoor activities in Manitoba, Canada during the winter, but the city’s embraced its icy reputation and in 2010 local gallery RAW launched the Warming Hut competition for designers to come up with a concept for a temporary structure at the intersection of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, both of which freeze over every year.

Previous Warming Hut winners have included Ice Womb and the minimalist Red Blanket, but British company OS31’s might be the most ambitious yet.

Their vision is for a pop-up restaurant on the ice. It will make use of scaffolding, meaning it will be easy to put up (and take down), and consist of two structures, interior and exterior, one inside the other. The design takes its cue from the local landscape, with steel fixtures referencing a nearby bridge and a mostly white interior unsurprisingly inspired by the snow.

There’s no news yet about what might be on the menu (moose? Poutine? Maybe even something a little less stereotypical?) but it will open in January and close before the ice melts, so if you want to book a table you should probably get your skates on.

Image via RAW.

Want to read more? We’ve chosen our 20 favourite coats and 16 favourite ankle boots to get ready for the winter weather.

If you’re more interested in getting a new camera than new clothes this season, you might be interested in these camera accessories for your iPhone, which beg the question: Do you need a camera if you own a camera phone?

Diane Shipley