Did you think slate was only for mountain cabins and traditional-style houses? Well, think again. Because in Oppdal in Norway, the owners of a brand new functionalist house chose to have local slate as the main attraction, both indoors and outdoors.

– I’m from Oppdal and grew up with slate all around me. So of course I wanted to use slate for the façade in a modern way, says the owner of the house.

The house, which was completed in 2018, is a two-storey functionalist building with a façade consisting of a slate brick wall with white plaster surrounds. The plaster was laid around the house as folding creases, and the slate creates contrast.

– What’s so nice about this type of slate brick is that it has a relatively stringent expression, which really suits modern houses like ours. You can also clearly see that it is slate, which contrasts with the clean white plaster walls. The combination is really attractive.

Slate bricks give you fantastic opportunities to give boring surfaces and facades new life. See our entire selection here.

It’s not only on the the façade that the slate plays an important role, since it’s also used indoors.

– We wanted an integrated look throughout the property and the slate was perfect for bringing this out, says the homeowner.

For the homeowners, it was important to buy locally, which is why they used local craftsmen, and – of course – Norwegian slate. Local natural materials and local professionals turned out to be a good combination.

– In one bathroom, for example, we have dark slate, which requires good lighting. Here, the local electrician, who had a lot of experience with this type of slate, was able to give us some good advice – and made sure that the result was absolutely fantastic, she says.

Similarly, the architect made sure that the façade was perfect.

– We were a little concerned that there might be too much slate and even considered using more wood. But the architect insisted that we use this combination of slate and plaster, which we ‘re now really pleased with, she says.

Slate also plays a big role in the kitchen. The wish to create a great place to sit and relax resulted in a slate worktop with a waterfall design. See how the beautiful worktop in light Oppdal slate makes a social centerpiece!

– We wanted something that was as maintenance-free as possible in the kitchen as well. A worktop that could withstand hot pots and pans and on which we could spill stuff without leaving ugly marks and stains, says the homeowner.

A natural stone kitchen worktop has a very special ability to store heat. It can withstand very hot elements, but is also perfect to bake on, precisely because it doesn’t warm up as you work on it. You can therefore work, stir, knead and roll, and the surface and also the dough, will stay the same temperature.