Compass House by Superkül
Toronto
A detached garage sits just north of the main wing.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
For warmer months, operable glass doors open to a patio with an outdoor fireplace and plunge pool, which becomes a hot tub in the winter.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
A low wall made of stone reclaimed from the property encloses a landscaped yard.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
The dining room looks out through a fully-glazed wall.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
The family room opens to the outdoors thanks to generous glazing.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
Standing in stark contrast to the high white ceilings, wood floors and wall paneling provides visual warmth to bedrooms, as seen here, and other spaces in the house.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
A skylight connects a lofted room above the kitchen to the outdoors.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
A skylight connects a lofted room above the kitchen to the outdoors.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
In the spring and summer, grasses grow up around the house and the roof reflects the color of the sky.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
In winter, the white house blends into the landscape.
Photo © Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.
Drawing courtesy superkül
Architects & Firms
In rural Ontario, where mild summers give way to cold, snowy winters, a family of six was ready to chart a new course in a sustainable second home. The Compass House, designed by Toronto-based superkül, responds to the dramatic seasonality of its context and the needs of its occupants by reconfiguring shared spaces around a central point as seasons change.
Returning to Toronto after living in London, the clients longed for a pastoral retreat reminiscent of those they had frequented in the English countryside, which could accommodate family and friends. On their 200-acre property in Mulmur, Ontario—part of a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve—they selected a wooded site that offered privacy, views, and a buffer from winds blowing across the high plateau of the Niagara Escarpment. “We wanted to blend in and not be seen,” says the husband.
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Taking cues from the English vernacular-style long barn, the architects designed a low-lying house with perpendicular volumes, built in two phases, aligned to the cardinal directions. In the winter, the house operates along an east–west axis, with communal spaces concentrated at the center of the main wing. In the summer, when insect screens usually replace operable glass walls running parallel along the open-plan kitchen, living, and dining room, the common areas expand to include a courtyard and the secondary wing, effectively rotating the hub of activity 90 degrees to the north–south line.
“The clients were interested in being as light on the land as possible,” says principal in charge Meg Graham—a fact that influenced both the sustainability features and the appearance of the house. Passive cooling and a geothermal system contributed to a LEED Gold certification for the first phase of the project. Clad in white cement-board panels, the wood-frame structure has a low roofline that matches the undulation of the surrounding hills. The house is “a little bit stealthy,” says Graham, explaining that “in the summer months, when the fields grow up around it, you don’t see it right away. Then, when it snows, it’s stealthy in a completely different way.”
Inside, oak floors and durable knotty cedar walls tie the house to its forested setting and provide a warm contrast to the white ceilings, punctuated with skylights. “When you look up from inside the house and see the boundless sky, for a nanosecond you don’t register the scale of it. You can just breathe and feel this connection to the cosmos,” says Graham. “It’s kind of spiritual.”
PeopleArchitect: superkül Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Meg Graham, Principal-in-Charge (Registered Architect) Engineers: Structural Engineer: Robert E. Brown & Associates Limited (Phase I); Halsall Associates (Phase II) Building Science: Halsall Associates Geotechnical: Terraprobe Inc. Mechanical: GPY+ Associates Engineering Inc. Civil: exp Services Inc Surveyor: Van Harten Surveying & Engineering General contractor: Wilson Project Management Photographer: Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc (416)465-2426 Consultants Landscape: Whispering Pines Landscaping LEED: Greenscape Building Consultants Inc
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ProductsStructural System Wood and structural steel Manufacturer of any structural components unique to this project: N/A Exterior Cladding Rainscreen: Cement board panels by CertainTeed Moisture barrier: Guardian GuardWrap and Bakor Blueskin SA Roofing Built-up roofing: Classic Roofing Systems CRS-38 Profile, 24 GA., acrylic coated galvalume finish Windows Metal frame: Monarch Moveable Glass Walls Glazing Glass: Monarch Moveable Glass Walls Skylights: Velux Doors Entrances: Front Door: Radiant City Millwork Special doors: Bifold glass doors: Monarch Moveable Glass Walls Hardware Locksets: Hinge Hardware, FSB, Inox, SimonsWerk Interior Finishes Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: La Fabrika Solid surfacing: Corian, Zodiaq Quartz Floor and wall tile: StoneTile International Inc, all washrooms and kitchen; Moncer Flooring (all other locations) Raised flooring: Knotty white cedar; White oak Special interior finishes unique to this project: Knotty white cedar; White oak Furnishings Chairs: Dining: The Wishbone Chair by Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen & Son Other furniture: Custom bed (master): Speke Klein Lighting Interior ambient lighting: Eureka Lighting, Lucifer Lighting, Belfer, iLed, MP Lighting, US Illumination, Davey Lighting, Axis Lighting, Artemide, Roll and Hill, David Weeks Studio, Bocci, Lights Up, Rezek Energy Add any additional building components or special equipment that made a significant contribution to this project: In-ground geothermal system |
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