While romantic sparks may certainly fly while huddled for warmth in Shane Neufeld and Kevin Kunstadt’s “Kissing Booth,” the wooden warming hut isn’t named for just that. Instead, it refers to the way the different parts of the hut twist up from the ground to meet, and seemingly, kiss.

The architects, of the firm Rogers Marvel Architects, designed the Kissing Booth for the frozen Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, the largest city in Manitoba, Canada.  The hut is designed with a roof and walls, but open entry ways, allowing skaters to breeze through the structure at high speeds.

One of the walls, however, features a bench, and behind it, a glassed-in bay window, allowing for relaxation inside the hut as well.

Planks of naturally stained wood fan up from the ground and up into the air, and meet at one small corner: a corner, the architects say, that is a “moment of charged contact” in the structure. The spaced spiraling of the wood beams allows for the play of light and shadow, an activation with the motion of the skaters, and skillfully, but not overwhelmingly, provides shelter. It seems to be in motion, mid-spiral, imagery that speaks to the skaters who utilize it; from its western side, however, the serene window bench also is defining, giving the simple structure an earthy and comfortable presence in the middle of the Assiniboine River.