The Living Steel International Extreme Housing Competition was essentially a specific yet simple brief – a sustainable steel house for Cherepovets, Russia – a city that experiences -48C temperatures. With origins from a locality where cooling is the primary consideration it enabled an unconditioned and fresh approach to a demanding climatic problem. We reviewed the climatic conditions of Cherepovets to best understand both the opportunities and difficulties associated with such a harsh environment. The qualities of steel were re-considered and the unusual use of existing technology integrated into a highly refined approach to energy management. The Cherepovets house is a foreign reaction to a local problem. Every aspect of the solution is a means of considering how best to retain energy produced by the day to day performance of a house that trapped in the building is moved to a singular collection point then redistributed through a centralized storage wall. The wall is sheet steel filled with gravel and acts as a large thermal mass radiator. The building is deliberately precise; the aesthetic is the outcome of developing the potential of a technical solution with the understanding that ‘beauty’ is an equal partner in a sustainable response –alongside efficiency.

Photos by Peter Stutchbury