Volume Zero has announced winners for the House of Santa Architecture Competition. The challenge looked at participants design a new place of residence for the harbinger of Christmas, Santa Claus, at his home turf on the Arctic Circle.

The jury for the competition consisted of esteemed architects Ar. Benjamin G. Saxe (Studio Saxe), Ar. Peter Pichler (Peter Pichler Architecture), Mark Foster Gage (Mark Foster Gage Architects) and Mikkel Frost (Cebra Architecture).

The top three winners were awarded a total prize money of $3200 while ten entries received honorable mentions. The competition selected 3 winners and 10 Honorable Mentions. 

See the full winning projects below:

1st prize winner: Heart of the Artic by Hubert Rozewicz, Bartosz Kolodziejczuk and Damian Konieczny (Poland)

The ‘Heart of the Arctic’ imagines rebuilding the living and working area of Mr. Santa Claus and his family on a floating iceberg in the Arctic Circle. The design looks at adapting architecture to face the monumental issues of climate change, rather than ignoring the problem. 

2nd prize winner: Defense of the Glacier by Pei Chi Tsai and Chao Chun Kung (Taiwan)

The ‘Defense of the Glacier’ imagines Santa’s ne house to be built at Danmark Fjord, a place with the thickest ice sheet in Arctic that may soon crack owing to global warming. This house is designed on a high wall that intends to slow down the melting of the glacier and help it recover from recession. The site chosen is near a weather station so as to co-operate with scientists to monitor the glacier and study the effects of climate change on the same.

3rd prize winner: Santa’s Cocoon Dong Si Wah and Lau Doris Yen Kiu (Hong Kong)

‘Santa’s Cocoon’ emphasizes on architecture as means for the children visiting Santa Claus to get in touch with nature. The house is designed with a terrace system to reduce its reliance on an artificial heating technique. The spaces inside the Cocoon are connected with each other through various functional areas, making the house a cozy living and working area for the residents and the visitors.

See the 10 Honorable Mentions on the competition's website.

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