The Unbelievable Challenge 2014

This is a campaign that inspired architects from all over the world to come up with new ideas for Ruukki Construction. Participating in competitions is an everyday job for architects and a natural way of becoming familiar with certain construction materials. Their interest is driven by fame and references. We planned an ideas competition to design a logistics centre. The starting point was Ruukki’s innovative products, which are suited to even the most challenging conditions.

Winner: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE (Alexandru Oprita & Laurentiu Constantin) The design is a building that is invisible at daytime and becomes visible when night comes - just like Santa. The invisibility effect is achieved by using a façade of photovoltaic membrane and a two way mirror membrane that would make it visible during the day due to the natural landscape’s reflection into it – also helping it integrate with the natural surroundings.

Other winners: S.M.L.XL. LOGISTIC (Nuttapol Techopitch & Satavee Kijsanayotin) The design creates an architectural prototype where its formal language derives from logical sensibility: a structure that is pragmatic, sensible and elegant in its function and its form. S.M.L.XL is applied to the network-like hierarchy of logistical operations, from the small centralized administrative hub, to the extra large distributional system, all activity are dispersed from the center, while at the same…

Other winners: AT THE SPEED OF DREAM (Giorgia Musacchio) The design imagines Santa´s logistics center as a trail of his sleigh in flight from Perävainio to Korvatunturi during one of his several job´s travel. To transform this idea to architecture the logistics center is created with panels of different colours and materials, glass and metal, assembled to create optical illusion of something in movement.

Other winners: SANTAPOLE (Evelina Vasiliauskaite) The whole project is about ones’ experience. The idea is artistic, magical and mysterious, yet poetic. The Santa Pole welcomes strangers with a softly dim lighted wooden house and gives an opportunity for magical new possible experience to happen. The building is a focal point within the empty surroundings.

Other winners: (ICE)CLIMbing (Urszula Chomiak & Pawel Potemkowski) The Santa’s gift for local community is the world’s largest (ice)climbing wall, which revitalizes the area and becomes socially vibrant space. Simple logistics center with fancy and usable facade, not only hides the Christmas mystery inside, but also reflects the changing cycles of nature. It becomes the symbol of modern Santa and attracts people from Oulu, whole Finland and the rest of the world.

Other winners: SANTA CLAUS’ PLANETARY GARDEN (El Hadi Jazairy, Chen Lu & Kelly Koh) Santa Claus has decided to quit his job and trade it for a life of a planetary gardener. His logistics center will resemble a botanical garden dedicated to the collection of plants from various climatic regions of the planet. The project shifts the focus of the logistics center to the botanic garden, rethinking the relation of humans to their environment.

365 (Prusakov Anton)

1026.23 MT (Fiorini Micaela, Pagand Thibault & Louis Vincent) The design has an interactive reception hall with a landscape office on top, to share the newest gift ideas. It’s like a marvelous workspace area close to the sky with an amazing and inspiring view of the surrounding environment. ­A path goes around the building as a kind of promenade for visitors to tour the workshop and a runway for Santa´ s sledge.

280110 (Marcin plewa & Zofia paluszkiewicz) The design is based on the form of snowy mountains, of which Santa could start his trip on sleigh. The simple shape of the office building with huge glazing is covered by ”a second skin” to bring this place mystery and give employees privacy. The second skin is made of steel plates. In these plates were cut out the shapes of snowflakes. This kind of elevation gives beautiful light effect by night.

ARTICHUB (Johanna Brand) This design offers an unforgettable landmark combined with hardcore functionality and flexibility. Even Santa Claus would be able to see this unique assembly of shale cliffs only separated by a ray of light, from far above.

AURORA (Wojciech Losa, Pawel Kuczynski & Mikolaj Cierlak) Who is santa claus for you? For us he has been an investor for two months, but since our childhood he has been a mystery. so when we had opportunity to design logistic center for him, we took care of keeping his secrecy untouched.

AURORA CTR (Marcin Kiedos) The main idea for the design was to create a building that will be a natural supplement for northern landscape. The architectural form grows out of the ground and appears as aurora borealis on the sky. The building will complement rather than dominate the landscape.

AURORA POLARIS (Nina Wojtczuk & Krystyna Smolka) The northen lights, that are known for unusual shapes and magic colours, were an inspiration for this logistic center. The building is on led light wires along the elevation to obtain the eye-catching effect. Thanks to this solution the building will gain even greater dynamism and became more three-dimensional and magical.

AURORA SLOPE (Eliasz Matula) Santa´s logistics center is based on two ideas: to connect architecture with nature and to add the extra value to a typical logistics center. The interactive system is placed on the roof to illuminate the snow. It will create abstract moving images, similar to the aurora borealis. The roof becomes s playground for children.

BOW MOUNTAIN (Jeremy Gillard) By stacking up the different functions of Santa´s logistics center there is room for outdoor activities. It also increases the height of the building. These spaces are covered in pitched roofs in order to manage snow load more efficiently and provide sledge slopes.