Omar Gandhi wraps Canadian furniture maker's home in corrugated metal

Omar Gandhi Architects has completed a house and workshop clad entirely in light-grey corrugated metal for furniture designer Brodye Chappell in Marshfield, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

The two-part property sits in an agricultural area just outside Charlottetown, settled along the property line and looking out to Chappell's parents' horse farm. It's the second collaboration between the pair: Chappell previously worked with Gandhi on the architect's personal house in Halifax.

"The intent was to create somewhat of a line in the dirt on the top of the agrarian landscape," OGA founder Omar Gandhi told Dezeen.

"There was an ambition to create a minimal response, and a striking silhouette in the farmstead landscape."

How does the building take its form?

The studio drew on the rural building traditions of the region. "The architecture borrows from rural vernacular building forms – elongated rooflines, agricultural profiles – then abstracts them into something leaner and more contemporary," OGA said.

"A gable roof pairs with a hyper-extended hip, producing a familiar silhouette sharpened into new form."

The gabled roof shapes the interior volumes. Living spaces and the workshop sit in dialogue with each other, divided by a central courtyard shielded from the wind. Shared family spaces line one edge of the courtyard; the workshop occupies the other.

At one end, the primary suite opens to a small porch beneath the hip roof's slope. At the other, the workshop dissolves into wooden slats that fold open as a concealed garage door.

The corrugated metal runs down the roof slope and along the exterior walls, shielding the spaces from summer sun, rainy shoulder seasons and winter snowfall. Vertical stripes of glass and black detailing break the metallic finish, which reflects the surrounding sky and helps the house sit lightly just above the grassy fields.

Who actually built it?

Quite literally, the client. Chappell — proprietor of Brodye Chappell Builds and Chappell Custom Homes — provided ongoing design input, crafted the interior millwork and furniture, and led the piecemeal construction on evenings and weekends. He drew help from friends, colleagues and tradespeople on the island.

Gandhi, whose offices are in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Germany, designed the building's form and exterior palette. The design team also included David Greenwell.

Inside, the two programs split character. "The interior palette is warm and bright with wood, crafted pieces and a collection of art and fixtures from friends and colleagues," Gandhi said.

"The garage is quite raw – concrete floors, exposed structure and enough wall space for tools and materials."

While walls and delicate pendant lights give the house a soft finish, the workshop comes outfitted with skateboards and a glass garage door.

"The Chappell Residence is a home built slowly, with intention," the studio said. "Rooted in land, labour and family connection, it stands as a place lived in and made by hand – an architecture where work and life form one continuous narrative."

What does this change for OGA's residential work?

The project extends a run of regional houses by the Halifax-based studio, which recently completed a Corten-steel cabin, a coastal cedar house and a cascading cedar lake property in Nova Scotia. The Chappell Residence deepens that lineage — vernacular forms, tough skins, self-built delivery — and shows Gandhi's model of close client collaboration stretching from Halifax to Prince Edward Island.

Photography is by Felix Michaud.