Mobish Thomas, a government employee and social worker from Wayanad, decided to adopt an alternate and affordable technology to build his house.

He employed a design using Light Gauge Steel Frame (LGSF) — a technology that uses cold-formed steel as construction material.

This, he says, helped him build his two-storey house in just three months within a budget of Rs 34 lakh.

Majid, an engineer associated with the project, says there are several advantages to choosing LGSF over conventional methods. He explains that in this method, steel and cement fibre boards are used instead of brick and mortar.

“First, we build a steel frame over the foundation to which we fix the fibre cement boards to build the walls. This reduces the usage of cement and other construction materials,” he says.

The 1,440 sqft house can be easily dismantled without creating any debris as there is no concrete involved, except for the foundation.

In addition to this, Majid says these structures have high resistance to seismic force (earthquakes) and the boards are fire resistant.

As the walls are built by parallelly fixing two boards and the space is filled with thermal and acoustic insulation material, the house is soundproof.

Mobish says the best part about the house is that it stays warm when it’s really cold outside, and stays comparatively cooler than outside during summers.

“We were particular about lighting and ventilation. Therefore, the windows have been kept broad, letting in enough daylight and good airflow. They have been built using UPVC and the doors using metal and fibre,” says Mobish.