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True to its name, Ridge House was conceived as a response to a ridge that lies on the far end of our clients’ property. The topography inspired a design in which the sculptural roof — the home’s most defining and deferential feature — behaves like an extension of the terrain. We devised a siting strategy that allowed us to work with the naturally occurring downslope, a high water table, and a prominent ironwood tree while realizing our clients’ desire for a home that would communicate directly with nature and allow them to enjoy the outdoors across seasons. We leveraged landform to address constraints and immerse the house in its surroundings, thereby optimizing privacy, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside, and orienting views toward the ironwood and pine forest beyond.
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Ridge House represents landform-driven design that deliberately defers to the site’s topography. The home is mostly concealed from the road, save for the oversized roof, which was designed to float above the field’s horizon. Nestling the house between the ridge and the forest also helps provide shelter from strong winds and brings the house closer to the cooling effects of the woods. We found creative ways to dissolve the boundaries between inside and outside. A secret courtyard sits under the roof’s cleft, providing garden views from the main bathroom and sending light deep into the program. Operable glass accordion doors open up the entire west side of the house to the backyard. A vaulted plywood ceiling on the home’s southwest corner provides all-season shelter for an outdoor firepit.
Built to withstand the rural Ontario elements, Ridge House prioritizes passive strategies, durable materials, prefabricated wood siding and millwork, non-toxic finishes, energy performance, and sustainable construction methods. Deep-set overhangs mitigate solar gain and create shaded areas under which to sit. Operable triple-glazed doors enable powerful passive ventilation on the home’s forest-facing side, significantly reducing the need for air conditioning in the summer. High-efficiency zoned in-floor radiant heating provides targeted temperature control while the cold-climate heat pump, combined with Ontario’s clean energy grid, minimizes carbon consumption for heating and cooling. The Energy Recovery Ventilator mechanical system optimizes air quality and enhances thermal comfort.
Tucked between a field and the forest’s edge, Ridge House straddles a gentle gradient, offering a deeply contextual response to topography that sublimates the architecture to the land. We leveraged landform to optimize privacy and orient views while the sculptural roof — the home’s most defining and deferential feature — behaves like an extension of the terrain. Our clients desired a tranquil home that blurs inside and outside, with a preference for monochromatism, natural materials, and a distinctive roof. Designed to prioritize passive-first strategies and four-season intimacy with nature, the roof provides several advantages: deep-set overhangs mitigate solar gain while operable glass accordion doors, with retractable insect screens, create protected mid-door spaces beneath the overhang from which to comfortably enjoy the outdoors, even during bug season. The cantilevered walkway along the west side of the home was designed to emphasize the property’s soft pitch. Not only did we design with the land, we also found imaginative ways to bring the outdoors in. The main bathroom looks out to an enclosed garden space, which sits under a cleft in the roof that filters daylight into the heart of the program. Strategically staggered skylights bounce daylight off the vaulted ceilings and adjacent walls to cast diffuse illumination across the home. The soft grey of the kitchen matches the exterior cladding on the piers, creating aesthetic harmony between interior and exterior.
“The team at Superkül brought intuition and insight to every aspect of our project. They thoroughly understood our practical needs and the opportunities the topology provided, and were just as sensitive to the movement of light within the house and the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces. They demonstrated creative thinking and a collaborative spirit at every step of the process.” – Ridge House clients
Superkül delivers eloquent architecture of enduring value that straddles sectors and scales, prioritizing deep contextualism, profound livability, and environmental stewardship to create luminous spaces that marry beauty and function. While our portfolio is diverse, our values and methods remain consistent. We embrace a first-principles approach to deliver design that responds studiously and gracefully to site specificities and people’s needs and ambitions. Balancing attention to detail, materials, light, and clean craftsmanship with purposeful connections to the built and natural environments, we aspire to create spaces that are nourishing, joyful, and grounding. With every project, our objective is always to find ways to do more with less; design for the present while anticipating the future. Dedicated to sustainable design, we pursue passive-first strategies, innovative building science solutions, and ecological interventions to build responsibly for now and tomorrow.
