The BISF house is a British steel framed house, designed and produced by the

British Iron and Steel Federation The British Iron and Steel Federation (BISF), formed in 1934, was an organisation of British iron and steel producers responsible for the national planning of steel production. Its creation was imposed on the industry by Ramsay MacDonald's Nation ...

, and erected around the country from 1946. BISF was an association of steel producers, formed in 1934 in order to provide central planning for the industry. It was prominent in coordinating output through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Post-war, BISF became key in the new Ministry of Works

Emergency Factory Made Prefabs (prefabricated homes) were a major part of the delivery plan to address the United Kingdom's post–Second World War housing shortage. They were envisaged by war-time prime minister Winston Churchill in March 1944, and legally outlined in ...

housing programme. It sponsored a solution for a permanent steel framed housing to a MoW conforming design by architect

Sir Frederick Gibberd Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd (7 January 1908 – 9 January 1984) was an English architect, town planner and landscape designer. He is particularly known for his work in Harlow, Essex, and for the BISF house, a design for a prefabricated counc ...

, who also designed the Howard house. The BISF is of a conventional design, with simple architectural devices of projecting window surrounds encasing Crittall Hope windows, and differing cladding to the upper and lower stories deal with the junction between components in an understated fashion. The main structure is of steel columns spaced to take standard metal windows between them. The central spine of the building which supports the first floor beams is carried on

tubular steel Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the common term for steel products shaped by cold-working processes carried out near room temperature, such as rolling, pressing, stamping, bending, etc. Stock bars and sheets of cold-rolled steel (CRS) are common ...

columns. The framework is clad on the lower storey with rendering on metal lath. The outer

cladding Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...

of the upper floor is of steel trussed sheeting fixed by angles to the steel columns. Traditional materials could be incorporated or simulated, for example a brick cladding to the lower storey, or steel sheet profiled to match timber weatherboarding to the upper. The inner cladding and the partitions are constructed of

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

faced with plasterboard or hardboard. The upper floors are of tongue & grooved timber and the ceilings are finished with

plasterboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...

or fibreboard. The outer walls and ceilings are insulated with glass quilting. Produced by the British Steel Homes company, the BISF was a successful design in numerical terms, thanks to the backing of its trade sponsors, who could ensure a supply of steel. The BISF also benefited from a guaranteed order of 30,000 units given directly by the Government in 1941. BISF houses are often confused with other prefabricated houses built in the same post-war era. This can cause problems because many of the other types of prefabricated housing are listed as Defective Housing and potential buyers can not obtain mortgages. BISF houses however have never been listed as defective and continue to be mortgageable. As previously stated, BISF Houses were built as permanent homes with a similar expected lifespan to that of a traditional brick built house. They are often wrongly referred to as temporary dwellings and incorrectly classified as such due to their visual similarity to the Aluminium B8 and Arcon temporary bungalows which did have an expected lifespan of just 10 years.

Areas with BISF houses

Areas which have notable concentrations of BISF houses include: * Bardrainney, a neighbourhood of

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

, Scotland * Bellsmyre, a housing estate in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, Scotland *

New Lodge New Lodge may refer to: *New Lodge, Winkfield near Windsor, Berkshire, England *New Lodge, South Yorkshire, England *New Lodge, Belfast, an area of North Belfast, Northern Ireland *New Lodge, Billericay, association football ground in Billericay, E ...

, a housing estate in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

Overslade Overslade is a residential area in the central south part of the town of Rugby, Warwickshire. The area was developed for housing in the 20th century, mostly between the 1930s and late-1950s. It was historically within the parish of Bilton. The l ...

, a neighbourhood of

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

* Tin Town, a suburb of

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

* Harrow Weald & Hatch End Harrow, London

References

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External links

Non-standard house construction - A brief history of the BISF house
House types in the United Kingdom Public housing in the United Kingdom