A new type of house construction on display in Cape Breton

Membertou’s financial director, Kevin Chant, says the community needs to build 250 units in order to meet demand. From traditional builds to modular options, Membertou is in the process of constructing more than 100 units within the next 18 months.

One of those homes is a first for the community — and a first for the company building it.

An all-steel structure. Weather-tested and mold resistant. Esthetically similar to a traditional stick build, with painted walls, cabinets and trim that make it feel not unlike any other home.

At a recent open-house event in Membertou, community members had a chance to see the first fully constructed home from Smart Casa, a Canadian company focused solely on steel-built homes.

“You really have to be inside it to get it,” Chant said. “The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s got nine-and-a-half-foot ceilings. The interior-based doors are steel-based, so they’re not fragile. The cupboards, stainless steel, but they’re covered with a coating that makes them look like white cupboards.”

“They won’t be ignited by embers, our fire rating is very high,” Smart Casa CEO Kathy MacGillivray said in a separate interview. “The framing of our house is all galvanized, conventional steel. The roof is a standing seam metal roof. Siding is metal.”

CONSTRUCTED ON SITE

Smart Casa homes start out in shipping containers as steel panels and beams, which are then constructed on site. This prevents the need for garbage bins, lowering the carbon footprint compared to traditional builds. They also come with a full kitchen and bathroom, MacGillivray said. Furthermore, she said the homes are built to last with low maintenance costs over time.

“We’re building ancestral homes,” she said.

The business began in 2024 after MacGillivray met Martin Wille, a German structural engineer with decades of experience in steel construction. He works as the company’s chief technical officer, overseeing the design, engineering and execution of the homes.

“These homes require somebody very familiar with steel builds and I wanted to have the best across Canada,” MacGillivray said. “It’s worked out very well so far.”

Chant said the build itself has taken 14 weeks, with two weeks left for a few final follow-ups. The estimated time of completion was eight weeks.

“There were reasons for the delay, including that this was the first full house she built,” said Chant, who cited this experience as a learning process. “But it was much faster than doing a stick build.”

Smart Casa has also been able to hire local construction to craft their build in Membertou, MacGillivray said. They have a contract with Cormac Builders to build the foundation and do the electrical and plumbing while also employing tradespeople from Membertou throughout the process.

“They’re such a wonderful group here,” MacGillivray said. “They gave us our first opportunity across Canada. It’s been really remarkable working here with them.”

SETTLING ON STEEL

Membertou partnered with Smart Casa to develop this home after much consideration, Chant said. He had visited a sample home the company built in Hammonds Plains to get a sense of what it was about.

“We went through it for 15 months, making sure we were comfortable with it,” Chant said. “When someone says they’re building a steel home, the first thing that hits my mind is institutional-like, not warm and friendly.”

Chant was surprised by what he saw.

“You can’t tell that home has got steel studs and steel roof trusses unless you go in the attic and unless you’ve seen behind the wall,” he said. “The interior finishes, the variety of colours, the variety of textures. There’s a lot of choice there.”

What it ultimately came down to was cost, according to Chant. While he didn’t give a specific figure, he said it was a substantial saving compared to a stick build. They are considering working with Smart Casa to design and build three or four more homes, smaller builds for younger community members.

“Every house we get is unique to Membertou,” Chant said. “She can develop a portfolio of floor plans. We basically say here’s the size, here’s the bedroom layout, whether or not it’s going to be a universal design … and then she comes back with a floor plan.”

This home in Membertou is part of a two-year, 64-home development on the Jefferson lands — the same location where a 32-home development, funded in part by the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative to the cost of $8.25 million, began in 2024.

“We have five major projects going on in Membertou at the moment,” Chant said. “Three of them will provide roughly 120 new homes to Membertou in the next 18 months. A lot of those builds are modular.”

On top of the new homes, Chant says a new 24-bed addictions centre is also in development, also modular.