With the exception of masonry foundations, these extensively glazed interlocking boxes are built entirely of steel, with composite floors. The structural frame is intentionally devoid of gussets for the beam to column connections, with steel panels lined inside with plasterboard, visible steel trays for the ceiling and large steel casements for the full-height picture windows up to 3.70 metres tall.

Galvanised frame

Steel extensive glazed interlocking boxes

Steel panels

You’d be mad to spend more, said the advertisement. It is also what the architects of the Périphériques association proclaimed in 1997 with «36 designs for a house», a sensationalist and ironic exhibition offering, following the example of the housebuilders, to build within the symbolic 80 000 euro envelope.

Ensnared by their own slogan, the Trottins, founder members, were left with no alternative by a determined client, an engineer and DIY enthusiast, whose sole requirement, inspired by memories of a childhood Meccano set, was to live in a metal house.

Having produced at that time a very simple design called «Picnic/Immersion», the architects proved that they are not short of ideas with this green house comprising painted wood-cement composite panels on a galvanised frame, merging chameleon-like into its surroundings. Rumour has it that its mimetic colouring is the outcome of a chromatic analysis of the garden...

The product of a legacy, the plot’s only advantage was a magnificent view to the south over the Marne valley. A narrow and steeply sloping old apple orchard, the form determines the structure, a linear succession that moulds itself to the slope in three strides.

With the exception of masonry foundations, these extensively glazed interlocking boxes are built entirely of steel, with composite floors. Rather austere, the structural frame is intentionally devoid of gussets for the beam to column connections, with steel panels lined inside with plasterboard, visible steel trays for the ceiling and large steel casements for the full-height picture windows up to 3.70 metres tall. This intentional maximising of the fixed glazing contrasting with the opacity ofsmall shutters - furnishes the intended sense of communion. The relationship is established alternately through the view or through physical contact with nature.

The configuration of the half-floors, embracing the contours of the garden, reinforces this impression so that, within and without, the house fuses with its environment. The entrance hall is centrally located, the spaces organising themselves naturally in step with the slope, with the living room showcased at the downhill end.

In places, an occasional change of height enhances the volume and the design. Glazed on four sides to enjoy to the full its setting, including three cherry trees, two apple trees and one pine tree, the final cost of this 140 m² house at one with its garden was 125,000 euros including taxes.

Key information

Number of storeys	2
Living area (m2)	140 m2
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

Beams
Ceiling
Doors
External wall
Floor
Internal wall
Light steel sections
Roof
Window

Types of steel used in the building

Long carbon steel
Metallic coated flat carbon steel
Organic coated flat carbon steel

Private house in Seine-et-Marne