Warming Hut | António Rosa da Silva

The concept for the 2012 Warming Huts competition is based in the simple volume and functional characteristics of a matchbox, associated immediately to something that produces heat. The interior volume opens up and reveals a wood bench and the walls painted in a solar orange. In the wall at the bottom is installed a set of tin cans that simulate the matches inside the box, these have a resistance and a little fan inside that blow the hot air. The energy for the resistance and fan is provided by a solar panel or in alternative a little wind turbine connected to a pack of batteries. In the exterior the outer box volume is painted in black to maximize the solar heat gain. This volume is fenestrated by a series of vertical panels with a sheet of alveolar polycarbonate behind allowing views for the exterior. The materials are simple, like the concept, timber structure and painted plywood on the walls. It is expected that visitors recognize the concept and fill warmed by the coziness of the matchbox hut.