Tata Steel is of the opinion that no effort in steel intensification is complete without entering the rural arena as shelter and food can be upgraded / saved thro steel application. A concept of low cost steel intensive rural house has been developed after a lot of discussion with the villagers and understanding their need to fulfill the dream of better living with affordable, safe and durable houses. The Concept of Steel Intensive House will be the ideal solution for rural housing as the availability of wood, tiles and other forest products are going to become scarce and costly with rising environmental concerns.

The Steel Houses are modular in nature and can be erected at site in a few weeks after the elements have been pre-fabricated in the factory. Contrary to the popular belief, the steel houses provide a very good ambient temperature and aesthetic looks due to use of better quality of cladding materials which maintains the room temperature at normal levels. Three demonstration units of 200 sq.ft., 400 sq.ft. and 600 sq.ft. area have been constructed at three different villages around Jamshedpur, which becomes a model to illustrate the advantages of the steel intensive rural house to our villagers. This has already evoked a very good response from the local population.

The Steel House concept lends itself ideally to other usage such as the much needed School Buildings, Community Hall, Meeting Rooms, Offices and Village Dispensary.

While the Government has come out with various schemes for providing shelter and such like infrastructure facilities to our rural millions, the challenge is to design a safe, aesthetic, steel based building keeping within the scheme values.

Some of the advantages of such steel buildings include :

• Light weight structure.
• Weather proof.
• Protection against cyclone, floods.
• Can be built in shorter time as compared to conventional housing.
• Can be made modular and transported & re-erected at minimum cost.
• Long lasting with minimum maintenance.

Key details

Built up area	118 / 200 / 300 / 400 / 600 sq.ft
Roofing	GC Sheet over MS Pipe structure supported on square section frames
Ceiling	Bamboo Mat False Ceiling*
External wall	0.50mm GP Sheet with cement plaster over bamboo mat & white wash interior
Partition wall	Crushed Bamboo Mat with cement plaster*
Flooring	Brick soling with cement mortar at joint, cement flooring at toilet & kitchen
Door / window	Made of GP Sheet with steel frame

Steel used**

LP	0.150 metric tonnes
GC	0.290 metric tonnes
GP	0.450 metric tonnes
Tubes	0.215 metric tonnes
RHS	0.290 metric tonnes

* Can be replaced with "Bison Panel" or other material

** Total: approx. 1.500 metric tonnes for a 400 sq. ft. house

 

Summary

Contracting	Company Minean Habitat Limited
Engineering Company	Minean Habitat Limited
City	Jharkhand & hyderabad slums
Country	India
Region	Asia
Climatic Condition	Sub-tropical
Housing Type	Single family

Key information

Number of storeys	1
Living area (m2)	30 m2
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

Doors
External wall
Internal wall
Light steel sections
Roof
Window

Types of steel used in the building

Metallic coated flat carbon steel

Low cost steel houses for low income people