Winter Stations is back for its 11th year, revealing the four winning designs selected from hundreds of submissions worldwide. In addition to the four winning designs, two student designs from Toronto Metropolitan University and Waterloo Department of Architecture will be showcased. This year’s competition is made possible by the generous sponsorship of RAW Design, Northcrest Developments, Resident Properties, Crombie REIT & Sobeys along with MicroPro Sienna and BEHR® Paint.
Embarking on the 11th iteration of the annual design competition, the theme for this year is Dawn. Designers were invited to explore how Winter Stations can evolve, and to consider the future of the exhibition and its relationship with the public and the environment. Through this lens, Dawn challenges designers to explore how Winter Stations can adapt, grow, and metamorphose in the coming years, shaping the urban landscape in imaginative and innovative ways.
“After celebrating a decade of Winter Stations last year, we really wanted to look forward and challenge artists and designers to consider the future of the Stations”, says RAW Design Architect Dakota Wares-Tani. “In reviewing the hundreds of submissions, we feel the selected installations brought something unique and exciting to the Beach for 2025 and we can’t wait to see them enjoyed by the public this winter”.
Highlighting the international aspect of the competition, all four winning submissions are from international designers. The installations will launch Family Day weekend and will be on display through March Break. The stations will enjoy additional showcases, spreading art into GTA communities through our partners Northcrest Developments and Resident. Further details about future exhibitions will be announced later in the year.
“We are so pleased with the wonderful response to the Winter Stations at YZD this past year, and we’re delighted to sponsor this beloved festival once again. These installations align beautifully with our commitment to sustainability and the intersection of creativity and play. We’re proud to support this year’s works and look forward to showcasing the Stations at YZD later in the year, offering the public another opportunity to experience these unique and inspiring pieces” says Alana Mercury Director, Programming & Placemaking with Northcrest Developments, who was also a juror on this year’s panel. Northcrest is leading the redevelopment of YZD – a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will transform the former Downsview airport lands into a series of mixed-use, connected and vibrant communities.
The 2025 Winter Stations winners are:
Parade by Jesse Beus, United States
Parade is a celebration of those who live in the warm dawn of self-acceptance. It is comprised of six characters each with their own unique colour, shape, purpose, and identity.
Together this eclectic cast of follies proudly march together in an unstoppable procession and invite all to join them! Users join the parade through an archway and move from character to character discovering each’s personality and interactivity, including sliding, sitting, and shading. Despite anything that might try to get in their way, these six friends will march on until love has dawned on all hearts.
WATCH by Trae Horne, United States
As the morning sun crests above Lake Ontario’s horizon, a new day dawns on the crisp morning, and a wood canvas basks in the light. WATCH reflects on the specific point in time that it and visitors are within. The large, canted façade acts as a leaning respite for watchers of the sunrise and lake.
Facing due east, WATCH is a solar aligned structure anticipating equinox. Just as ancient civilizations marked the earth in ways to signify the time in the year and an important place, so too does WATCH. Three metal lines embedded in the sand follow the shadows throughout the three days: the day Winter Stations open, the equinox, and the day the Winter Stations close. The a-framed structure captures the equinox in Toronto as the architecture becomes perfectly aligned with the sunrise when light spills in a straight line through the open threshold.
Ascolto by Ines Dessaint, Tonin Letondu, France
In Ascolto, the sound experience is commemorated. This acoustic shelter welcomes the user in a contemplation space, not only visually but also audibly. Supported adjacent to the lifeguard tower on one side and buried in the sand on the other, the object creates a sound capsule. The simple and minimalist shape is explicit and refers clearly to a sound-amplifier object (horn, wind instruments, gramophone and etc.).
Built in wood, the inner space is big enough for two or three people for a more intimate experience. Visitors to the station bring the project to life by choosing their desired purpose and through this process adapt to it: hearing nature and its surroundings; appreciating the music chosen on their phones; or creating a musical performance. Usable as a horn on one hand, the project can also be utilized as an Ear Trumpet: the two sides are both the sender’s side and the receiver’s side.
Slice of Sun by Cláudia Franco, Mariam Daudali, Thomas Byrom, Portugal
For a moment, we recall our summer memories.
When you live in a city, dawn is mainly brought to you by glimpses of orange light scattered from your neighbour’s windows switching from one to the other.
One wonders how many dreams can fit into the blinking box of orange curtains. We invite you to enter our slice of sun and feel embraced by dawn light at any time of the day.
Peak by Anita Hu, Catherine Zheng, Isaac Walsh, Jason Cai, Nadine Hijazi, Ricardo Espinoza, with faculty supervisor Fiona Lim Tung, University of Waterloo – Department of Architecture
Emerging from the soft and organic beachscape are angular peaks that frame perspectives and form pathways. Consisting of repeating structures of select shapes and sizes, Peak is an interactive installation that visually contrasts the existing site and offers refuge from the cold winter environment. The design of the structure appears to shift and settle with the ground as the sand moves and collects within the alcoves and sloped surfaces from the wind.
Peak welcomes contemplation and new beginnings, it offers opportunities for individuals to freely explore and admire the surrounding natural landscape and intends to give agency to the ever changing and unpredictable conditions of the site.
Solair by Arjun Jain (Lead), Jade Wong (Lead), Finn Ferrall, Marko Sikic, Nick Kisil, with faculty supervisor Vincent Hui, Toronto Metropolitan University – Department of Architectural Science
Solair is a sculptural installation that captures the ephemeral beauty of dawn through the interplay of light, wind, and reflection. Inspired by the delicate transition from night to day, Solair amplifies the forces of nature – sunlight and air – transforming them into a dynamic, ever-changing visual and sensory experience.
Standing as both a literal and metaphorical beacon, Solair is designed to reflect and refract sunlight while channeling the waterfront breeze to cultivate a distinct auditory expression. The installation’s dynamic surfaces respond to the movement of wind, creating rippling shadows and flickering patterns of light, echoing the energy of the first rays of morning and lasting glimpse of sunset. As visitors move around and through the installation, they become active participants in this amplified natural performance, immersed in the harmony of air and light.
Additional Information
The 2025 Winter Stations jury was comprised of Aaron Knight, Adam Barrett, Alana Mercury, Lily Jeon and Jon Jeronimus.
A special thank you to Anex Works for constructing the installations, MicroPro Sienna for providing the treated wood for fabrication, BEHR® for providing weather resistant paints & stains for the installations and Sali Tabacchi for their design services.
For more information visit www.winterstations.com.