The NovoHouse, a practical solution that helps meet the demand that the world's growing population places on housing, has been officially unveiled by Cartwright Pickard Architects and Living Steel.

The design was created with developing countries such as China, Brazil and India in mind, and was unveiled at the World Steel Association Annual Conference in Beijing. Cartwright Pickard Architects focused on affordability, flexibility, sustainability, permanence and ease of assembly when coming up with the concept.

The project seeks to exploit the latest steel construction technology to develop an affordable housing model that allows low income families to live in improved home environments. The lightweight steel frame is independent from the cladding structure and is designed to be permanent and to resist local climatic extremes, such as earthquakes and cyclones.

The NovoHouse plans to use cold-formed steel to create the structural framework for the house, which can be created as prefabricated panels in a factory either at the site or nearby. One of the aims of the house was that once on location, unskilled labourers would be able to assemble the structures easily, by hand.

Though the steel structure is permanent, indigenous materials will be used to clad the dwellings, such as handmade mud bricks, straw bales, timber or bamboo.