Peter Stutchbury Architecture’s winning design for the Living Steel 3rd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing in Russia is a compact (165m2) and robust piece of prototype architecture that intelligently addresses sustainability in Cherepovets, Russia.

A disciplined, wind and sun optimized sculptural form with traditional Nordic influences, the design employs prefabricated steel refrigeration wall panels which achieve a certain industrial chic. The functional plan has been skilfully executed at a prototypical level; the key plan feature is an innovative internal thermal wall that acts as a heat bank (thermal mass radiator).

As a prototype structure claiming energy consumption reduction of over 60%, the Silver House has the potential to make a significant contribution to lowering carbon consumption when executed at a larger scale. The Silver House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture offers an interesting foreign solution to a local problem and is an excellent showcase of Australian know-how in sustainable design in an extreme foreign climate.