The beauty of past built cultures was their relevance to environment in all its dimensions. Town and rural communities both responded naturally, organically. This was essentially the management of personal and social comfort and security with available resources: beauty as a result of logical response.

The modern attitude to building has shifted to one of convenience, one of product over process: the lowest common denominator, minimum offence and maximum appeal. The outcome of this period of indulgence is yet to emerge except, we suggest, that "waste" may be the single most significant memory of this time.

Steel is a relatively recent addition to the family of materials available for use in design and construction. Accordingly, few countries have a historic steel technology that can be directly aligned with a genre of thinking at the domestic level.

However, for the past century, steel has provided wonderful opportunities for invention in building design, especially where strength for weight and pre-fabrication are key considerations. With repetition, steel becomes particularly efficient.

Our conceptual approach to the Helsinki Living Steel competition has reviewed the potential of steel, focusing on its contribution to single-dwelling design. In particular, we are exploring the role of steel in the conservation of energy in a cold climate; notably, sustainable housing in Cherepovets, Russian Federation.

The building we propose has been in training for some time, fat free it can be universally reproduced without dramatic change; it marks clearly a switch in humankinds responsibilities. Environment is again more than a part of the thinking; it is fundamental.

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