The design of Villa Inox is based on the idea of combining steel frame with prefabricated wall elements. The steel frame was executed in stainless steel for architectural and technical reasons. The facade elements are based on steel thermo purlins and the partition walls are light gauge steel elements. Because of the construction the building process on the site was relatively short, 3 months. The steel frame of the building, the frame of the car-port, the vestibule, the stairs, and the balconies are prefabricated stainless steel elements.

One of the objectives of this building project was to study the use of steel in an intimate housing estate. The house has a steel frame which is visible e.g. in the indoor spaces. The facade elements are also of steel construction and the roofing material is copper.

The house was designed onto a relative small plot, a so-called urban single-family house plot. The interior spaces are directly connected with the external spaces and the surrounding nature. The space system of the house is semi-open.

A central theme in the design of the house is the relationship between the interior and exterior. The internal spaces form a logical spatial series and the plan is of a semi-open type, offering the possibility for family socialising but also individual privacy.

Moving from the interior to the exterior has been made easy, in that every room extends out to an external space, be it into the yard on the ground floor or out onto a balcony on the first floor. Thus the warmer parts of the year can be utilised to a maximum. The surrounding nature, the small-scale life of the yard and the view of the changing seasons are brought into the building through the large glazed areas of the living room and lobby.

Construction

The building consists of two masses. The main mass contains the two-storey high living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms and the bathrooms. The side mass contains a car shelter, a storeroom, a laundry room, and a heat distribution room and sauna facilities. The loadbearing framework of the main mass and the car shelter is made of stainless steel. The car shelter is an unheated structure. The heated part of the side mass has loadbearing steel-frame walls.

The frame of the car shelter was assembled of prefabricated sections by welding on site. The frames of the main mass were assembled at the factory, transported to the site as whole frames and installed into the reinforced concrete foundations with bolts. The main mass framework is made of rectangular hollow sections with ground finish, as they are visible inside the house. The frame material of the car shelter has been pickled.

The external walls are steel-frame elements. The partition walls are also using light steel framing. The wooden windows and doors were installed into the wall elements on the site. The ceiling of the main mass is of element construction.

The roofing material is copper and the external cladding is wood. The corner sheets of the facade are made of stainless steel. The main entrance vestibule, the balconies and the internal staircase are prefabricated and made of stainless steel. The balconies are of cantilevered construction, with separate frame posts mainly supported to the frame of the main mass. The balcony levels are suspended from the frame posts with tension rods.

The building was mainly realised using component technology. The structures were designed with long service lives, minimum and easy maintenance and a pleasant living atmosphere in mind.

"Dry building" and recycable materials

The frame of the building as well as the wall elements were prefabricated to reduce the installation time on the site to just a few days. The internal structures could then be installed in a sheltered space. This so-called dry building method eliminates damages caused by e.g. moisture. The steel used in the building is all of recyclable grade.

Gross area: 178 m²
Net apartment area: 159 m²
Plot area: 722 m²

Key information

Number of storeys	2
Living area (m2)	160 m2
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

Balcony
Beams
Columns
External wall
Fencing
Light steel sections
Roof

Types of steel used in the building

Flat stainless steel
Long stainless steel
Metallic coated flat carbon steel

Villa Inox, Tuusula, Finland