A canted dark wall runs the length of this beachside residence by Omar Gandhi Architect, forming a buffer against inclement conditions on the Canadian coast.

The Treow Brycg house hugs the shore of Kingsburg, in Canada's Nova Scotia? province, which experiences notoriously unpredictable weather.
Harsh storms and blanketing fog frequently envelop the region, so Omar Gandhi Architect designed the building to "brace itself" for the cold and rain.

The team used the area's gambrel-roofed barns to inform the shape of a protective shell for the home. This takes the form of a heavy angled steel wall covered in standing-seam aluminium, which spans the full south elevation and folds over to create the roof.

The cladding material appears black, but is in fact coloured extra-dark bronze. Along with protection from the elements, the wall also provides privacy from neighbours and forms a landmark in the murk. "The dark silhouette of the fortress-like structure [is] one of few things seen through the thick fog," said a project description from the studio, based in nearby Halifax. "The entry side is hyper-minimal and mysterious with slight glimpses out from within, providing only a tease on approach from the road."

Behind the shell is circulation space, accessed through a gap towards the western end of the ground floor. This breach in the metal continues above as a horizontal brise-soleil, then an open area above a small terrace and balcony on the upper le...