Public Service Announcement

Innovative Warming Hut Welcome Addition to Oval Site

(January 20, 2011) Beginning this weekend, January 22nd and 23rd, Oval skaters will be introduced to an innovative, 15-foot tent-like warming hut at the North Common site. The project is the result of a collaborative effort between HRM’s Community Relations and Cultural Affairs division and the NSCAD @lab for use during HRM’s Winter Festival at the Canada Games Oval and the 2011 Canada Games.

A team from HRM and @lab will begin assemble and test the warming hut on Thursday and Friday of this week. Once complete, it will seat as many as 12 visitors at a time and remain on the Oval site as long as the cold weather remains.

The design is unique and involves arching wall panels made of custom-designed woven fabric, translucent shingles and hand-printed images on satin. The heated benches are made from straps, with the skeleton formed from moulded aluminum wiring and the façade crafted from translucent but resilient Lexan sheets cut into shingles.

Electronics integrated into the structure create glowing frames that climb along the arching wall panels with interactive snowflake chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. One of the benches includes special arm rests that hold a surprise.

“Ten-foot panels of satin fabric are printed using a special technique to reveal a pattern of skating marks in transparent and opaque areas. The marks and reflections on the fabric create a wonderful play of lights,” said Anke Fox, @lab textiles technician.

During the day, the façade materials allow daylight to illuminate the etched fabric panels. At night, the transparent fabric and translucent sheets mesh with the glow of the LED lights from the chandeliers and bench seats to create snowflake images and sparkling reflections.

Community Development Co-ordinator Mary Angela Munro said that HRM now owns the public art installation which will be reused at future festivals and events.

“The Hut is a kit that can be assembled and dismantled at end of use, allowing for shipping to another festival site for quick installation,” she said.

@lab stands for Architectural Textiles and is the research laboratory for a team of diverse professionals, including faculty and staff from both NSCAD and Dalhousie. It is supported by ACOA’s Atlantic Innovation Fund and the Nova Scotia Research and Innovation Trust fund. Professor Robin Muller of NSCAD’s Division of Craft and Dr. Sarah Bonnemaison of Dalhousie’s School of Architecture lead the team, with guest collaborator Alan Macy of California’s Biopac, Inc. Local commercial partners on the project included Maritime Canvas Converters and Velocity Machining and Welding.

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Contact:

Professor Robin Muller
@lab
902 442-4227, 430-6117-cell
rmuller@nscad.ca

Katherine VanBuskirk
HRM Communications
490-6697