Gingerbread Houses? Forget It — This Giant Gingerbread Creation Is Way Better

This winter, PNC Bank decided to do something special for its patrons. They wanted to build a gingerbread house. Not a small one, though. No — they decided to construct a life-sized one that would serve as an actual bank.

To make it a reality took immense amounts of planning. A team of local bakers in Philadelphia had been constructing the pieces since June. The result is something that took less than four days to assemble, but is simply magical…and delicious!

Because of the way it’s made, gingerbread is a great building tool.

Which is a good thing, because if Philadelphia’s Bredenbeck’s Bakery was going to pull off a life-sized, fully functioning PNC Bank building out of it, they’d need a solid foundation.

The result was a working bank that’s made of over 5,000 pounds of real gingerbread!

There’s even a working ATM that’s coated in gingerbread, frosting, and gumdrops.

It seems funny, but patrons at this gingerbread bank can go about business as usual.

Even though every single element of the building is edible, it’s also incredibly durable. It’s even winterized to withstand the elements!

“We felt strongly that the branch should read as being a ‘bank,’ not a gingerbread house,” Jeremy Bernstein, Creative Director at Deutsch, Inc., told Adweek.

“[Our design team] drew inspiration from other great Art Deco buildings like the MetLife Building, Rockefeller Center, and the Chrysler Building.”

As they’ve attracted over 5,000 visitors in the first couple of days since opening, we’d say that their efforts have been a raging success.

Because even if people just want to come and see the interior decorations, that’s just fine with PNC.

It’s all about helping people find their Christmas cheer!

Merry Christmas!

For more Christmas fun from PNC Bank, make sure to check out their Christmas Price Index. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, be sure to wander on over and see the gingerbread bank for yourself!