No, this is not an expressive idiom. It is not to describe the ‘rock-solid’ colonial mansions with magnificent archways that have stood the test of time. ‘House of steel’, for once, means house made of steel. Surprised, eh! Better, don’t.
Come this December, and Kolkata is going to boast of having country’s first steel house at Rajarhat. Albeit a prototype – because the concept is nascent in India – the steel house will be an all-steel affair except the foundation and the floor. This means it will have steel walls and steel columns, complete with glass windows.
The 5-storey building will have 8 apartments, each with an area between 1200 to 1500 square feet. Does it get hot in summer when temperature hovers in forties? No, says the developers, Bengal Shrachi. So, what’s the advantage? Seems there are quite a few.
First of course is that the house will be lighter, compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar ones. Second, it will be practically maintenance-free. This is so since the mild steel structure will not corrode if properly treated, and you don’t need to paint the walls, as the steel plates will come color-coated.
A steel house being made in Australia.
Pictures from : http://www.housesofthefuture.com.au/hof_houses03.html.
Third, it will take very less time to build one for the reason that steel plates are pre-fabricated in factories and will simply need assembling onsite. You order exact sizes of plates you require, and perhaps even local semiskilled workers can put them together. Less time will directly contribute to lessening of overall cost.
For now though, it will be a pretty longish wait before you can have your own steel house. The reason is none else than non-availability of ready items. Unless factories come up manufacturing steel plates, that is unless the would-be manufacturer convinces itself of the demand, a steel house of yours or mine will just remain on paper. Which is why, many fingers are still crossed over whether the Rajarhat prototype can evoke good response! Let’s hope it does.
Leave a Reply