/härTH/

noun

1. the floor of the fireplace

2. a symbol for one’s home

      Braving the winter weather is a Canadian tradition. Unfortunately, when temperatures plunge, circulating the campus grounds becomes a challenge. Despite our tolerance for the cold temperatures, students who venture out into the cold sometimes need a break. Hearth is a beacon for those seeking shelter within the campus grounds. 

 

     Hearth acts as a multifunctional structure, serving both functional and educational purposes through material application and experimentation. Hearth harnesses the surrounding environment and creates a truly warm space through passive solar gain strategies. As the physical hearth gathers heat and displays a fogged interior, individuals wandering through the Univeristy of Alberta campus grounds will have no trouble finding a comfortable space to warm up. 

 

     Strategically orientated transparent, heat-retaining and insulating materials combined with circulation through a small, elevated space are the components that make Hearth’s preformance of warmth possible.