Affleck De La Riva Architects

Slate House

Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

SLATE HOUSE

Affleck de la Riva architects

PHOTOGRAPHS
Alexandre Parent

DESIGN ARCHITECT
Richard De la Riva, Gavin Affleck

PROJECT TEAM
Brigitte Boudreau, Federico Carbajal, Julie Marchand

BUDGET
450000 $CA

PROJECT MANAGER
Richard De la Riva

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
D.L. Turner Consultants

AREA
256.0 m²

YEAR
2010

CATEGORY
Houses

LOCATION
Laval, Canada

Slate House
© Alexandre Parent
Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

Text description provided by architect.

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
© Alexandre Parent
Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

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.

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
© Alexandre Parent
Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

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
© Alexandre Parent
Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

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.

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
© Alexandre Parent
Slate House
© Alexandre Parent

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
© Alexandre Parent


Slate House
Site Plan
Slate House
Ground Floor Plan
Slate House
Second Floor Plan
Slate House
Drawing


Slate House
East Elevation
Slate House
West Elevation
Slate House
South Elevation
Slate House
North Elevation


Slate House
Cross Section AA
Slate House
Longitudinal Section BB

Affleck De La Riva Architects
T +1 514 8610133 F +1 514 8615776
Affleck De La Riva Architects
1450 City Councillors St, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2E6, Canada