![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d70b/e58e/ce1a/ae00/0015/newsletter/16620-preview_low_1172-3_16620_sc_v2com.jpg?1415304958)
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Architects: Affleck de la Riva architects
- Area: 256 m²
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Alexandre Parent
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d719/e58e/ce1a/ae00/0016/newsletter/16621-preview_low_1172-3_16621_sc_v2com.jpg?1415304972)
Text description provided by the architects. Slate House was conceived as an in-situ installation that reveals a pre-existing landscape. Approached as a comprehensive reconfiguration of an entire site, the project considers the house as one component of a greater whole.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Image 7 of 26](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d739/e58e/ce1e/4700/0018/newsletter/16622-preview_low_1172-3_16622_sc_v2com.jpg?1415305005)
Located in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, the site is a residual parcel in a new subdivision laid out over historic farmland. The project preserves features pre-dating the subdivision including natural topography, a small stream, and a mature deciduous grove.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Image 19 of 26](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d89b/e58e/ce70/e000/0024/newsletter/Second_Floor_Plan.jpg?1415305356)
Surrounded by lots whose terrain has been bulldozed to build tract houses, the project proposes an alternative: the conservation and enhancement of the site’s historic landscape and the reaffirmation of its agricultural and territorial memory.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Chair](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d818/e58e/ce1a/ae00/0019/newsletter/16631-preview_low_1172-3_16631_sc_v2com.jpg?1415305219)
Slate House stands in sharp contrast to the tract houses that surround it. Orchestrating a progressive discovery from suburban street to interior courtyard to forest and stream, the house is a sheltered oasis in a unique pastoral setting. Two orthogonal volumes frame the courtyard and the natural change in grade from street to stream is used to slide a lower storey under the main level. Both floors open laterally to the courtyard, the stream, and the southwest sun.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Sink, Bathtub, Countertop, Bathroom, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d886/e58e/ce70/e000/0023/newsletter/16634-preview_low_1172-3_16634_sc_v2com.jpg?1415305336)
The program called for unique living accommodations that include a spacious garage and workshop for the owner’s collection of vintage automobiles and a full guest apartment. Located on the lower level, the guest apartment opens directly on the courtyard while the main living area above is connected to a wood gallery and a swimming pool.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Image 18 of 26](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d862/e58e/ce70/e000/0021/newsletter/Ground_Floor_Plan.jpg?1415305295)
The building exterior combines natural slate shingles installed using traditional methods of assembly with sheet glass and factory-made aluminum windows. Commonly found in traditional religious architecture, the artisanal slate finds expression here as a resolutely contemporary material.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Facade, Beam, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d7ba/e58e/ce1e/4700/001a/newsletter/16626-preview_low_1172-3_16626_sc_v2com.jpg?1415305122)
Slate House integrates such sustainable features as geothermal and passive solar heating, natural water collection, local species of vegetation, and low-energy electrical fittings. By generously engaging its found landscape, the house initiates a fundamental connection between the inhabitant and the history and culture of a specific place.
![Slate House / Affleck de la Riva architects - Brick, Facade, Column](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/545b/d746/e58e/ce1e/4700/0019/newsletter/16623-preview_low_1172-3_16623_sc_v2com.jpg?1415305018)