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Design
concept
Why
choose steel?
What
makes this house special?
How
it all goes together
Environmental
features
Why
would you live in a steel house of the future?
Historical
precedents - Steel and prefabrication
Historical
precedents in Australia
About
the Architects
Could
you buy one of these now?
Design concept
The Steel House was conceived as a pre-fabricated, modernist, compact
dwelling that is both environmentally responsible and utilitarian,
and available as an off the shelf, affordable product.
It is a simple steel-framed modular unit, elegantly protected from
the elements by a striking over-sailing roof. It is encircled by
a delicate steel veranda, and appears to float above the ground,
expressing its minimal environmental impact by touching the earth
very lightly.
The simple light-filled interior of the house is a showcase for
all things steel. Furniture, lighting, textiles and other products
by young Australian designers will be displayed, demonstrating playful
and unexpected uses for steel in a domestic context.
Why
choose steel?
The
Steel House demonstrates the use of lightweight steel components
to create a robust, transportable dwelling with a modernist aesthetic.
Sponsored by Integrated Steel Solutions, Ripa Steel Fabrications
and Tunnel Tech, the house is clad with profiled steel sheet materials
that have advanced coatings to resist rust and reduce glare.
Steel has many advantages as a structural material. It has a very
high strength to weight ratio – a little goes a long way in
structural terms.
Although steel uses considerable energy in its initial manufacture,
it can be formed into precisely engineered sections to ensure that
no material is wasted.
And steel can be easily re-used and re-cycled at the end of a structure’s
life. In addition, a steel frame does not warp or rot, it doesn’t
burn or add fuel to bush fires, and it is impervious to termite
attack.
Structural steel framing, while long exploited for the construction
of public and commercial buildings, is finally being used for mass
housing in Australia.
What makes
this house special?
The steel-framed module is crowned by a shimmering roof structure
that hovers above the house. The roof is eye-catching but dynamic
and practical. It is designed to shade the living spaces and the
veranda from the sun, reflect radiant heat, support photovoltaic
panels and maximise the collection of rainwater.
A single module could be a holiday retreat, a guest studio, a garden
office or and extension for elderly relatives. You can also combine
two or more modules to form a large family home. The internal layout
can easily be configured to suit individual circumstances. And it
will be possible to start with a single unit and add a second or
third module as a family grows.
The design can be positioned to make the most of any site. The orientation,
the views of the surroundings, local wind patterns and approach
from the street are all considered when locating the modules on
a site. The inherent flexibility of the modular system allows views
and sun to be controlled. Use a glazed panel to create a sunny dining
area, and solid panel to hide a neighbour’s gable wall.
Because the house is fully prefabricated, disruption to the site
is minimal – the only site works required are simple screw-pile
foundations and utility connections. Solar panels and grey water
treatment have been incorporated. And it can be easily removed,
leaving practically no trace of its existence in the landscape.
How it all goes
together:
The basic module is 50 sq metres and is transported to site as a
fully pre-fabricated unit complete with kitchen and bathroom. The
interior is entirely pre-finished prior to transportation.
The roof, veranda decks and accommodation module arrive on a single
flat bed-truck. Once on site these pieces are assembled together
and bolted into place on the pre-drilled screw-pile footings.
The house is also available in a double-size module, totalling 100
sq metres plus outdoor decks.
Environmental features
• The double roof reflects radiant heat during the summer months
and generates natural air currents that passively cool the building
• Thermal mass is created using Water H2OGs. In
summer the thermal mass cools overnight, keeping the house cooler
during the day. In winter they help retain heat.
• The H2OGs are also rainwater tanks, collecting
water for toilet flushing and the garden.
• The narrow floor plan allows natural cross ventilation between
panels of louvred windows.
• Thick foil-coated insulation retains winter warmth while
reflecting
summer heat.
• Electricity is generated by BP Solar photovoltaic panels,
and a solar hot
water system could be installed on the roof to heat water.
• Smart energy-efficient appliances and AAA-rated water-saving
taps prove that an eco-friendly home can appeal to the most stylish
of design conscious consumers.
Why would
you live in a steel house of the future?
From
the middle of the 18th century, as the Industrial Revolution rolled
out across Europe, iron became the material of choice for making
bridges, factories, railways, churches, town halls and hospitals
required by the rapidly expanding and increasingly urbanised population.
Iron, and later steel, was structurally efficient, lightweight,
fireproof and cheap to manufacture.
The first great building of the modern age was the
Crystal Palace in London, designed by Paxton for the Great Exhibition
of 1851, which was erected in just 9 months. Seen by thousands of
people, this vast structure was an early exemplar of prefabrication.
It was light and transparent, supported by iron and enclosed by
acres of sparkling glass. It felt futuristic and incredibly ‘new’
to the inhabitants of heavy, dark masonry houses in gloomy 19th
century London.
The architectural world began talking about steel and glass again
in the optimistic post-war years. Individual houses, intended to
showcase the modern aspirations of their wealthy patrons, caught
the public’s imagination.
The Farnsworth
House by Mies van der Rohe is a prominent example. The
Case Study Houses in California, promoted by the magazine Art
& Architecture and designed by Craig Ellwood, Richard Neutra
and Charles Eames amongst others, used prefabricated components
and developed the aesthetics of the Farnsworth House to create a
new architecture for the age.
In the United Kingdom in the mid 1990’s the Government
commissioned an inquiry into the construction industry. The Egan
Report led to new sustainable standards that forced public
and private developers to innovate. The report set targets for the reduction of construction periods, costs, waste and injuries. It was sugessted that introducing extensive off-site prefabrication would help achieve these goals. There has since been a renaissance
in pre-fabrication with developments such as
Murray Grove, Raines Dairy, Greenwich Millennium Village and
the BedZed zero-energy
scheme all using refabrication building systems.
.
Historical
precedents in Australia
Steel and iron have been used in Australia from the first days of
European settlement. ‘Corrugated iron’ has covered walls
and roofs throughout the continent. It is cheap, easy to transport,
durable, strong, supple and available everywhere.
Many of Australia’s most iconic modern buildings are clad with
a new generation of steel cladding products that are coated to resist
rust and reflect radiant heat.
One of the leaders in the use of steel in housing is Glenn
Murcutt, the only Australian architect to win the world’s
most prestigious Pritzker
Prize for Architecture in 2002.
About the Architects
– 
Sarah Bickford and Paul Lucas established Modabode in early 2004
to develop and market a modernist, eco-friendly prefabricated house
that is capable of mass production.
Sarah and Paul graduated from UK schools of architecture in the
mid 1990’s and went onto work for influential
architectural practices in London, England.
Could you
buy one of these now?
Yes, you can! The Steel House is designed to be manufactured in
a factory to a very high quality and to order at a fixed price.
It is available as a single or double unit. The market is undoubtedly
eager for an off-the-shelf sustainable dwelling that embraces modernist
ideals. Contact www.modabode.com.au
for details.
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