Slate Cabin is a refuge built for a writer, located on the edge of Snowdonia National Park in Mid Wales. The landscape is exceptional, strewn with rocky mountains, abandoned quarries, and old slate homes. It was clear to the architects what material to use and how to name the project. Obtained from nearby farms and recycled, slate dominates the building’s exterior.

The exterior is dark and cold-looking, but the inside is a bright and cozy small space. As a refuge, it has everything essential for short getaways, and has more storage capacity than it may seem to, the architects having exerted much effort in making the most of every square millimeter. The result is a continuous balance between efficiency and comfort. The windows are carefully considered, either framing small sceneries or forming a horizontal line below the roof to bring in all the daylight possible.

The architects’ intention was to explore “the tension between permanence and impermanence, the efficient act of prefabrication and the slow beauty lent by natural materials.”