This artful outdoor fireplace from Haugen/Zohar Architects is integrated with a nearby playground, allowing families a chance to duck in and take the chill out of a cool evening playtime.

The fireplace, built on a playground in Trondheim, Norway, is a wonderfully whimsical structure that provides a place not only to warm up, but to spend time telling stories. Its unique shape is reminiscent of traditional Norwegian turf structures, with a hole at the top for the smoke to escape.

A concrete base provides a seating area all around the fire, encouraging bonding over scary stories or tall tales. Kids are encouraged to play in the structure, giving it a triple life as a decorative structure, a functional warming-up space, and an extension of the nearby playground.

The architects, faced with an extremely limited budget, found an inexpensive building material at a nearby construction site. The small wooden pieces, stacked in 80 circles, let a warm glow through when a fire is lit at night. A sliding door is fitted to secure the inside of the little hut when it’s not in use.