A family in France has become the first in the world to move into a 3D-printed house. The four-bedroom property is a prototype for bigger projects aiming to make housebuilding quicker and cheaper. Could it cause a shift in the building industry?
With curved walls designed to reduce the effects of humidity and digital controls for disabled people, this house could be an expensive realization of an architect’s vision.
But having taken 54 hours to print – with four more months for contractors to add in things such as windows, doors and the roof – its cost of around £176,000 to build makes it 20% cheaper than an identical construction using more traditional solutions.
The team now believe they could print the same house again in only 33 hours.
The 95m (1022ft) square house – built for a family of five with four bedrooms and a big central space in Nantes – is a collaboration between the city council, a housing association and University of Nantes.
Francky Trichet, the council’s lead on technology and innovation, says the purpose of the project was to see whether this type of construction could become mainstream for housing, and whether its principles could be applied to other communal buildings, such as sports halls.
Read more: World’s first family to live in a 3D-printed home
Images courtesy of bbc.com
