01 · The briefA family house that could take the wind.
Claire and David wanted a home for three generations on an exposed hillside west of the city — somewhere the children could play outside in March.
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Before you commitSee it first.
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Four custom design concepts. No obligation. No upfront build fee. Choose the direction you love and we'll build it.
No. 041 · House
Bridgeland Infill
Bridgeland, 2025 — A narrow lot, a tall house. Light comes down through a stair that runs the full length of the plan, so every floor gets sky.
01020304050607/ 07
We design houses, renovations and a few small public buildings in Calgary and the Bow Valley — carefully, at a human pace, and with the people who will use them.
A studio of 6, founded in 2011. Every project is led by one of the two principals, from the first site visit to the last site meeting.
About the practice →In design — Riverfront Co-housing, InglewoodIn design — Bowness Community Library, BownessOn site — Altadore Laneway Home, AltadoreOn site — Varsity Townhouses, VarsityIn design — Riverfront Co-housing, InglewoodIn design — Bowness Community Library, BownessOn site — Altadore Laneway Home, AltadoreOn site — Varsity Townhouses, Varsity
Featured project · No. 038
Springbank Hill House
- Location
- Springbank, Alberta
- Completed
- 2024
- Area
- 390 m²
- Recognition
- Alberta Architecture Prize
01 — The brief01 · The brief02 · The siteMountains to the west, a gale from the same direction.
We spent a winter visiting at different hours, logging where the snow drifted and where the sun lingered, then built the hillside in card before drawing a single wall.
03 · The responseAn L that wraps a sheltered courtyard.
The house turns its back to the wind and opens a long glazed wall to the view. Between the two wings, a courtyard that is ten degrees warmer than the field around it.
04 · Living thereTwo winters in, the courtyard is the busiest room.
It hosts breakfasts in April and hockey in January. Heating bills are a third of the family’s previous house, which was half the size.
Selected work
Thirty-one buildings, and the people who use them.
All projects →
“A house should fit the way you actually live — not the way a brochure says you should.”
Mara Ostrander, principal
0Buildings completed
Houses, renovations and small public rooms
0Years in practice
Founded in Bridgeland in 2011
0Design awards
Provincial, national and wood design
0%Percent on budget
Of projects since 2018, at final account
How we work
Three things we hold to on every project.
- I
Listen before drawing
Every project starts with an afternoon on site and no sketchbook. We want to know how you cook, where the light falls at seven in the morning, and what you’d never change.
- II
Build less, build well
The best renovation is often smaller than you expected. We’ll tell you when one new window will do more than an addition — and spend the difference on the things you touch every day.
- III
Stay until the keys
The principal you meet on the first visit is at the last site meeting. We visit weekly during construction and come back a year after you move in.
What we do
Four kinds of project, each led by a principal.
- 01
New houses
Family homes, cabins and laneway houses, from first site visit to moving day.
Fees from 9% of construction - 02
Renovations & additions
Opening up, building up or out — and knowing when not to.
Fees from 11% of construction - 03
Laneway & garden suites
Second homes on the same lot, designed around Calgary’s bylaw and your budget.
Fixed fee from $28,000 - 04
Small commercial & civic
Clinics, workshops, libraries and community rooms under 2,500 m².
Fees agreed per project
“They listened for a whole afternoon before they drew a single line. The house they designed is exactly how we live — we just didn’t know it yet.”
Claire & David Ng — Springbank Hill House
Materials
A short palette, chosen to age well.
We use a handful of honest materials again and again, so we know how they weather in a Calgary winter — and how they look in twenty years.
The studio
Six people around one long table in Bridgeland.
We keep the studio small on purpose. We take on eight to ten projects a year, so every one is drawn, modelled and visited by the people you first meet — not handed down a corridor.
Drop in on a Friday afternoon and you’ll find the models out on the table and the kettle on.
- Mara OstranderPrincipal
Leads houses and renovations. Grew up in Canmore; still draws every first plan by hand.
Since 2011 - Julian LowePrincipal
Leads civic and housing work. Previously eight years with a Copenhagen practice.
Since 2011 - Priya SandhuAssociate
Runs our permit and construction work. Knows the City’s planning desk by first name.
Since 2016 - Tomas ReyesArchitect
Models, details and the occasional piece of furniture.
Since 2019 - Hannah KowalArchitect
Sustainability lead. Passive House certified designer.
Since 2021 - Ben AchebeStudio manager
Your first call, and the person who keeps every schedule honest.
Since 2022
Recognition
Awards and publications.
| 2025 | Prairie Design Award of Excellence | Bridgeland Infill |
| 2024 | Alberta Architecture Prize | Springbank Hill House |
| 2023 | Wood Design Award — Residential | Canmore Pool House |
| 2022 | Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Award | Ramsay Reading Room |
| 2019 | RAIC Emerging Practice — shortlist | The practice |
Published in
- Plan & Section
- Prairie Review
- North Light
- Foothills Living
- Bow Valley Quarterly
Journal
Notes from the studio and the site.
All entries →What a laneway home really costs in Calgary in 2026
Altadore: the frame is up, and the light is exactly where we drew it
Why we still build a physical model of every house
Five questions to ask before you hire any architect
Begin a project
Tell us about the place, and what you hope it could be.
The first visit is free. A principal will walk the site with you and tell you honestly what’s possible.
studio@ostranderlowe.caor call (403) 555-0172
Studio
612 1st Avenue NE
Bridgeland, Calgary, AB
Hours
Mon–Fri, 9–5 · visits by appointment
01 / 04 · Slide
Real pages, not sketches. Each concept is a finished-looking homepage you can open on your phone, tablet, and desktop — like the example above, for a business we made up.
Genuinely different. Four directions — different palettes, type, and layout — not four shades of the same template.
Concepts, not four websites. The one you choose is refined into your production site. The other three were the map, not the territory.
What's includedYour website,
Your website,
simply handled.
Everything a business website needs to exist, stay fast, stay secure, and stay current — in one monthly price.
01
Designed & built
- Four initial design conceptsReal pages, not sketches. Free, no obligation.
- Custom website designBuilt for your business on the anode system.
- Mobile & responsiveLooks right on every phone, tablet and screen.
- Contact formsEnquiries land in your inbox, spam does not.
02
Hosted & secured
- Fast static hostingServed from a global edge network.
- SSL & securityEncrypted, hardened, monitored.
- Domain & DNS managementWe handle the records so you never have to.
- Backups & version historyEvery change saved. Nothing is ever lost.
03
Kept current
- Unlimited reasonable editsNew hours, people, prices, photos. Email us.
- Technical maintenanceDependencies, patches and fixes, handled.
- Ongoing platform updatesYour site moves forward as the platform does.
- AnalyticsSee who is visiting and what they do.
How it works
Five steps. One of them is optional.
You decide whether to proceed after you've seen the concepts — not before.
01
Tell us about your business
A short form, then a 15-minute call. What you do, who you serve, what you like and don’t.
02
We create four concepts
Four genuinely different design directions for your site — real pages you can open on your phone, not sketches.
03
You choose your favourite
Pick the direction you love. Or don’t — there’s no obligation and nothing to pay.
04
We build, launch, and host it
We refine your concept into the finished site, put it on your domain, and switch it on.
05
Need something changed? Email us.
New hours, a new team member, a new service, a new photo. Send it over and it’s done.
Pricing
One plan. That's it.
No tiers, no “pro” version, no upsell to get the good design. Every customer gets the same website, built to the same standard.
anode+ sites
$100/month
- $0 upfront
- 24-month commitment
- Month to month after that
Included
- Four initial design concepts
- Custom website design
- Mobile & responsive
- Contact forms
- Fast static hosting
- SSL & security
- Domain & DNS management
- Backups & version history
- Unlimited reasonable edits
- Technical maintenance
- Ongoing platform updates
- Analytics
Unlimited edits means reasonable changes to the content and presentation of the site you have: text, photos, hours, prices, people, a new page in the same style.
New functionality — booking, e-commerce, portals, custom databases, integrations, a full redesign — is real software work and is quoted separately. We'll always say which is which before we start.
Need more than a website? Applications, customer portals and operational software are built as projects: an upfront build, then a monthly plan for hosting, care and unlimited changes. See how we build software →
Optional add-onsNeed more than
Need more than
a website?
Your website gives your business somewhere great to send customers. Anode can also help them find it — and help you do something with them when they arrive.
Lead Automation
+$100/mo$750 setup
Don’t just collect enquiries. Do something with them.
- Structured enquiry forms with qualifying questions
- Instant acknowledgement to the customer
- A useful summary to you — job type, location, budget
- Lead routing to the right person
- CRM or email-marketing integration
- Automatic follow-up
Built once for the setup fee, then run for $100 a month. Bounded on purpose: enquiry in, acknowledged, summarised, routed, followed up. More involved workflows are scoped separately.
Local SEO
+$350/mo$500 setup
For businesses that want to be found by people nearby.
- Google Business Profile optimization
- Search Console setup and monitoring
- Technical SEO
- Local keyword tracking
- Metadata and schema
- Monthly search performance report with recommendations
Setup covers the one-time work: profile optimization, schema, Search Console and technical fixes.
SEO Growth
+$950/moSetup included in Local SEO
For businesses where search is a primary source of customers.
- Everything in Local SEO
- Keyword strategy and competitor analysis
- Two content pieces a month, AI-assisted and human-reviewed
- One landing page created or optimized each month
- Content planning
- Monthly performance review
Need more? Additional content pieces are $250 each.
Google Ads Management
+$400/mo, up to $2,000 ad spend$1,000 setup
Paid search, run properly, with results you can see.
- Campaign setup and keyword research
- Conversion tracking
- Ongoing campaign and negative-keyword management
- Ad copy testing
- Landing-page recommendations
- Monthly reporting
Above $2,000 a month in ad spend, management is 15% of spend. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google. Accounts over $10,000 a month are quoted individually.
Already an Anode Sites customer? Add any of these from your account →
One-time and quoted services
- Google Ads LaunchCampaign built and configured for you to run yourself.$300 one-time
- Additional landing pageFor a campaign, service, or location beyond the original site.$150 each
- CopywritingProfessional page copy. Light editing of your own content is included in the plan.from $300
- Google Business Profile setupIncluded with Local SEO.$200 one-time
- Analytics & conversion setupGA4, Tag Manager, conversion events, call and form tracking.$200 one-time
- Booking integrationConnect Calendly or your industry scheduling tool.from $250
- Email / CRM integrationWebsite leads into the tools you already use.from $250
- E-commerceShopify, Stripe, catalogues, inventory — scoped separately.Quoted
- Photography & videoThrough trusted local partners. We coordinate if useful.Quoted
Common combinations
The same website every time, plus the services you add. Start with the site; add what you need, when you need it.
- Website$100/mo
- Website + Local SEO$350/mo
- Website + Local SEO + Google Ads$650/mo + ad spend
- Website + SEO Growth + Google Ads$900/mo + ad spend
Recent sitesReal businesses.
Real businesses.
Real websites.
Every site is designed for the business it belongs to. No two look alike.
Wine merchant · Calgary
Richmond Hill Wines
Calgary’s independent fine-wine merchant since 1991. A full online shop with Bordeaux futures, collections, and Alberta delivery — the website plus the e-commerce behind it.
Visit siteGood questions
The fine print, in plain English.
What counts as an edit?
Changes to the content and presentation of the website you have: text, photos, hours, prices, team members, a new service on an existing page, a new page in the same style. Send an email and it’s done. New functionality — booking systems, e-commerce, customer portals, custom databases, integrations, a full redesign — is real software work and is quoted separately. We’ll always tell you which side of the line something falls on before we start.
Are the four concepts really free?
Yes. After a short discovery call, we design four distinct directions for your site and send you a link to review them on any device. They are design concepts — finished-looking pages that show the direction — not four completed websites. If you choose one, we refine it into your production site. If you don’t, you owe nothing.
Who owns the website?
You do. Your domain, your content, and the site itself. If you ever leave, you can take the site files with you and host them anywhere — it’s a standard static website, with no proprietary platform holding it. What you’re paying for each month is the design, the hosting, and the care.
What happens after 24 months?
Nothing changes. The plan continues month to month at the same price, and you can cancel with notice whenever you like.
What if I need to leave before 24 months?
You can. Half of the remaining term is payable, and the site is yours to take. We’d rather earn the relationship than hold you to it.
How is it $100 a month?
We build every site on the same fast, modern foundation, and we use AI-assisted engineering to make design, build, and updates dramatically faster than they used to be. The savings go to you. It’s the same idea behind everything Anode builds: technology should make things simpler for the business owner.
Do you do social media?
No. We do websites, search, paid search, and the automation behind them. For social media we’re happy to recommend people who do it well.
Beyond the website
Your website might only be the beginning.
Anode also builds the software behind businesses. If spreadsheets, manual processes, disconnected systems, or aging software are slowing your company down, we can build those systems too.
See what Anode builds →Get started
Get your four concepts.
Tell us a little about your business. We'll book a 15-minute call, then design four directions for your new site. You decide after you've seen them.
- Free, with no obligation
- Four real design concepts, on any device
- $100/month only if you choose to proceed