What provides better shelter from a Toronto beach in February: a sauna with transparent walls and solar-powered lights, an upside-down canoe that turns snow into steam, or a charred sphere lined with thick, bear-like fur?

Torontonians need only visit the Beaches – a neighbourhood largely forsaken in these bleak months – to find out.

The second Winter Stations Design Competition, put on by Raw Design, Ferris + Associates and Curio, went live over Family Day weekend earlier this month, transforming lifeguard towers into imaginative structures that will also keep you warm.

The four winners, chosen from 378 submissions, as well as three student-led designs are joined on the beach this year by a Douglas Cardinal-designed community fireplace, donated by Diamante Developments. So get outside and then find some novel shelter before they all disappear on March 20.