A thick concrete wall can keep your house cool. Steel will make your house hot unless you insulated the walls well. Insulated walls don't work very well in a flood zone. When they get wet, you need to tear them apart. You will need concrete for the foundation most likely unless you are driving steel pylons. There is probably a combination of the two that will suit your needs best. It would be helpful to know what you want to achieve by using steel. There are advantages to both. Steel floors can be cantilevered further. It is easier to make bigger window openings. Floor and roof spans can be lighter and quicker to build with steel, but the roof will get hotter and therefore need good insulation and need to be well ventilated. These are just general assumptions of certain building practices so that you know what to ask people where you live. The practices and resources vary from place to place and building something for a specific purpose can change the benefits of one material or the other. My best guess is that you will probably want to use both.

Thank you for your suggestions everyone. I am going to layer it with another solid rug and use it in the living room. My living room neds a bit of colour and I thought this would be perfect. Breaks my heart to think that I may have to put it elsewhere.

softyjain, If the windows need to be replaced I recommend looking at fixed steel to maintain the narrow profile of the windows and small window lites. Using fixed instead of operating will be a cost savings if you don't need to open them. Another option for hanging from the ceiling is a decorative light or chandelier. That way you still have light into your ceiling at night. We offer Renaissance solid bronze windows that don't require any finish or finish maintenance. Architects designers love the rose bronze color, which closely matches copper gutters. http://www.houzz.com/projects/152134/Renaissance-Solid-Bronze-Windows---Doors-by-Progressive-Solutions You may also be interested in this ideabook- http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/18543834/thumbs/Bronze--Copper---Steel-Window-Ideas

I think a comfortable distance between the island and the counter is around 42". It seems that you have only 30" between your cook top and the counter. I might be a little too tight. The wall between the entrance and the kitchen could be 4' long instead of 6', you would then be able to move the island a foot which would give you more room between the cook top and the island. Could you switch the location of the toilet and vanity in your dad's bathroom so your enter facing a vanity instead of a toilet which is a lot nicer.