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Residential Development unveiled in Beijing, China

NovoHouse Concept : Architecture Information

13 Oct 2009 NovoHouse Beijing UK Architects, Steel Association Unveil Radical 'NovoHouse' The NovoHouse is officially unveiled by Cartwright Pickard Architects and Living Steel today, 13 October 2009, at the World Steel Association Annual Conference (Worldsteel-43) in Beijing, China. A life-size model of the NovoHouse demonstrates how it could offer a housing solution for many emerging communities across the world. The aim of the NovoHouse is to create a practical solution that helps meet the demand that the world's growing population places on housing, particularly in developing countries such as China, Brazil and India. With most of the world's population growth expected to be in these areas1, and with nearly half of populations in developing countries already living in slums2, the need is enormous and pressing. As part of the Living Steel programme, Cartwright Pickard Architects has created a concept with five key principles at the fore: affordability; flexibility; sustainability; permanence and ease of assembly. The NovoHouse is a concept that has been developed by Cartwright Pickard since winning the Living Steel International Architecture competition in 2007. The project seeks to exploit the latest steel construction technology to develop an affordable housing model that allows low-income families to live in improved home environments. Working closely with its partners in Living Steel and Baosteel, Cartwright Pickard has used their expertise in affordable housing and off-site construction methods to develop this unique project. The NovoHouse blueprint is flexible to allow for local site constraints, culture, living habits and space standards. The lightweight steel frame is independent from the cladding structure and is designed to be permanent and can be designed to resist local climatic extremes, such as earthquakes and cyclones. The structural elements are light enough to be carried by donkey or boat, which ensures the house is suitable even for remote areas. The NovoHouse plans to use cold-formed steel to create the structural framework for the house, which can be created as prefabricated panels in a factory either at the site or nearby. One of the aims of the NovoHouse is that once on location, local, unskilled labourers will be able to assemble the lightweight structures easily, by hand. The NovoHouse housing system aims to be a straightforward and logical kit of parts. Though the steel structure is permanent, indigenous materials will be used to clad the dwellings, such as handmade mud bricks, straw bales, timber, or bamboo - almost any cladding material that is available locally and suits the climate. Sustainability has been a major consideration throughout the design process. All steel contains recycled content and is itself recyclable. The flexibility of the NovoHouse will allow low-cost passive technologies to be incorporated in, or retro-fitted to, the customised design. The aim of using local labour, and local materials, will help generate income in the areas where the housing is planned, helping to stimulate local economies. James Pickard, Director, Cartwright Pickard Architects said, "There are approximately 2 billion people homeless world wide. The task of providing decent homes for the world's growing population is one that architects must address with practical solutions. We are delighted to be working with Living Steel to help explore design solutions for this important challenge. The NovoHouse is just the beginning of a new way of looking at solutions for creating and delivering new homes." Scott Chubbs, Director Living Steel, "At Living Steel we strive to support the development of safe, sustainable and affordable housing solutions. Steel is an ideal material with which to achieve these aims, and with the continued input of the world steel industry and innovative architects, we aim to continue improving our work to develop homes for our growing population." A total of eight demonstration versions of the NovoHouse are onsite in the Dujiangyan area of China to house a total of fourteen families. Tours can be arranged on request. A section of the NovoHouse will be available to view at Worldsteel-43 in Beijing (12 - 14 October). The NovoHouse project continues to be developed as part of Cartwright Pickard and Living Steel's commitment to sustainable housing. NovoHouse image / information received 131009

Beijing Architects

Chinese Architecture

Contemporary Houses

Case-study: Cartwright Pickard Demonstration NovoHouse, Hongkou, Dujiangyan area, China
The Dujiangyan region, surrounding the city of ChengDu, is largely agricultural, with two-storey houses typically for four to five people. The most influential geographic factor is that the province is in China's earthquake region, lies on the Longmenshan fault. The Great Sichuan Quake of 12 May 2008, registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, and has been described as the 19th most deadly earthquake of all time. Over 90,000 people were killed or reported missing, and millions left homeless after buildings collapsed. The Government has since pledged to spend 1 trillion yuan (about $146.5 billion) over the next three years to rebuild areas ravaged by the earthquake.

The area is mountainous with a humid subtropical climate, reaching 29°C in Summer and down to a minimum of 3°C in Winter. High levels of annual rainfall of 1240mm, contribute to the humidity.

A total of up to 40 demonstration houses are planned for the Dujiangyan region in collaboration with Living Steel, the Dujiangyan Municipal Government, the International Zinc Association and Baosteel. Cartwright Pickard are the only UK architects involved in this project. Three of their NovoHouse concepts are being built.

The Cartwright Pickard NovoHouse in Hongkou Village addresses the climatic and geographic requirements of the area and will provide replacement dwellings for two farming families whose homes were damaged in the earthquake. The new home is designed to be earthquake resistant, and will be built on a platform (approximately 3m x 3m) laid directly on the ground, which should also help modulate temperature fluctuations inside the house. An outdoor space provision is a local preference, and as Hongkou is a popular area of natural beauty, design includes guest rooms that the families can rent to tourists to create an additional income.

Dujiangyan area has one of the lowest levels of sunshine in China, which is exacerbated by industrial pollution. The HongKou design therefore ensures as much light as possible enters the building, and the roof options ensure there is no overhang that would block light.

To ensure the houses fit in the area, vernacular materials such as concrete, timber and masonry have been used for cladding and tiles reclaimed from damaged houses are used for the roof. Further materials from earthquake-damaged houses will be re-used where possible, such as prefabricated panels for temporary homes. The units are provided with an internal bathroom, mains sewerage facilities, running water and electricity. Wells provide the primary water source and a wood burning stove is installed for heating.

World population statistics

1. Anticipated world population growth from 2010 to 2030 is 1.40 billion (from 6.91 billion to 8.31 billion) with 1.36 billion of that growth occurring in the least developed regions (from 5.67 billion to 7.03 billion). Source: United Nations Population Division, using its median variant.
2. The UN Habitat Global Report on Human Settlements 2003 found that 1 billion people were living in slums, making up 32 per cent of the global urban population. In developing regions, slum dwellers account for 43 per cent of the population, in contrast to about 6 per cent in more developed regions.

About Cartwright Pickard Architects Cartwright Pickard is an award-winning practice based in the UK, founded in 1997. Cartwright Pickard Architects aim to improve the quality of life for building users and occupiers through delivering buildings with lasting architectural merit, which create and sustain value. Its first built project was a development of 30 key worker apartments in Murray Grove, East London, the first use of an innovative steel-framed modular construction technique. Since then its wide variety of projects has encompassed the residential, commercial, industrial and education sectors. The practice has a continuing programme of research and development, resulting in notable projects applying innovative methods of construction and use of materials. In 2007 it won the international Living Steel competition for sustainable housing, leading the way for current work with Living Steel. The practice continues to use its expertise in off-site construction and environmental design to create innovative buildings worldwide across many sectors. The practice's ability to transfer their knowledge without adding risk underpins their ability to produce high quality buildings that meet the needs of clients and address wider social concerns.

About Living Steel Living Steel, a worldwide, collaborative programme designed to stimulate innovative and responsible housing design and construction was launched in February, 2005 by the World Steel Association. The programme was developed to help address the unprecedented pressure on infrastructure, communities and the quality of people's lives stemming from growing urban populations.

Funded through the contributions of the world's leading steel manufacturers, the Full Members of Living Steel include ArcelorMittal, Baosteel, BlueScope Steel, CELSA Group, Corus, Erdemir, IMIDRO, Posco, Ruukki, SeverStal and Tata Steel.

Contemporary Housing

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