Don't avoid the waterfront this winter because from February 15 until March 20, you'll want to head toward the lake to see how artists, architects and designers transform seven lifeguard towers into stunning interactive installations for the Winter Stations exhibitions.

Now, you can actually preview what'll appear lakeside because Winter Stations revealed the winners for its juried design competition today. In December, it announced it received nearly 400 submissions - all related to the weather-appropriate theme Freeze/Thaw - from around the world.

"Visitors will discover a feast of textures in the schemes - from vessels clad in charred wood to sailing rope to vintage furs," says Winter Stations Design Jury Chair Lisa Rochon in a news release. "Inventive, playful and irreverent, all of the installations can be read like pieces of poetry on the beach."

Along with the four winning submissions, Winter Stations chose three student projects - from Ryerson University, OCADU and Laurentian University - to participate in the exhibition.

From a lakeside sauna to a multi-coloured light installation, check out all of the finalists below - and then go see them in real life next month.

Floating Ropes by MUDO

(Elodie Doukhan and Nicolas Mussche)The lifeguard chair is right in the middle of a rope forest, giving visitors a unique perspective of Lake Ontario.

Sauna by FFLO

(Claire Furnley and James Fox)
This timber sauna includes transparent walls and solar-powered lighting, meaning it'll glow at night.

Flow by Team Secret

(Calvin Fung and Victor Huynh)From a Toronto-based duo, this project is based on a single ice crystal.

Lithoform by Ryerson

(Remi Carreiro, Aris Peci and Vincent Hui, Associate Professor)

The Steam Canoe by OCADU

(Curtis Ho, Jungyun Lee, Monifa Onca Charles, Reila Park, Hamid Shahi, Lambert St‐Cyr, Jaewon Kim, Jason Wong and Mark Tholen, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Environmental Design)

Aurora Borealis by Laurentian University

(Chris Baziw, Ra'anaa Brown, Trevor D'Orazio, Andrew Harkness, Matthew Hunter, Danielle Kastelein and Terrance Galvin, Director of Architecture, Laurentian University)

Top photo of In the Belly of a Bear (Caitlind r.c Brown, Wayne Garrett and Lane Shordee. Calgary, Canada)

View all the WInter Stations submissions here.