It seems that every few months, architects marvel at a prototype or 3D-printed artwork and its possibilities for the future.
But it is a fact that companies worldwide are automating the construction of homes, offices and other structures through techniques such as 3D printing, robotic finishing and automated tiling. Accordingly, in the future, automation becoming the norm in construction will not be far away, solving the problem of construction efficiency, sustainability and even labor and housing shortages.
The Texas-based company recently completed a community of 3D-printed homes in Mexico for families living on $3 a day and a series of homes for the homeless in Austin.
In fact, there are currently two methods of 3D printing of houses: printing each part and then assembling and printing a monolithic building. The method of printing each assembled 3D house part is applied by more people. Because this method is quite flexible, moreover, users do not need to use a large 3D printer.
Meanwhile, 3D printing a house into a block is more complicated and needs to be equipped with a printer that can cover the whole house. In fact, many printers up to 40 meters long and up to 6 meters high have been installed and built. Printing the entire house in this way will be difficult at the 3D printer installation stage, as this is often quite complicated, but when forming a complete block, the house will be sturdier than the printing method. each department.
“3D printing (on a large scale) in the construction industry is evolving at an incredibly fast pace,” said Eric Holt, assistant professor at the Franklin L. Burns School of Construction and Real Estate Management at the University of Denver. I used to believe it would be practical in the next few years, but the reality is that it has been applied earlier than I thought.” The first company that changed Holt’s mind was a startup – Oakland, California-based Mighty Buildings, which completed accessory housing units (ADUs) called Mighty Mods in Oakland, San Diego, San Ramon and Hayward, California. The company used a combination of technological composites, 3D printing, 3D scanning and robotic finishing to build. The firm is currently working with California-based architecture firm EYRC to produce single-family “Mighty Houses,” which have up to 3 bedrooms and range in price from $287,500 to $409,500.
Chinese company Winsun Decoration Design Engineering has recently been making headlines with 3D printed houses. Recycled waste from construction and industrial waste is used as an additive to concrete, and the resulting homes only cost about $5,000. But the idea is not new. American craftsman, architect and mechanical engineer Andrey Rudenko has been working on this project as a personal project more or less for over 20 years, his latest result being an incredibly beautiful castle with many different shapes. He considers selling his 3D printer, and estimates it could roughly approximate the cost of a car — not much if you consider the value you can create by owning one.
In essence, the printer is not much more difficult than printing with a desktop FFF (fused filament fabrication) 3D printer. The material is applied in a viscous liquid state and must dry or harden quickly enough to build the desired layers. It’s a piece of cake if you will. Building houses by 3D printing method is often many times faster than traditional house construction methods. Normally, the construction time only takes about 7 to 10 days, the design stage will take up most of the time.
3D printed houses designed by Mario Cucinella. In its most basic form, houses can be built in as little as 200 hours. The 60 square meter prototype was built in layers without the need for framing. The house consists of two interconnected circular structures. Cucinella did not disclose construction costs. Inside the house has a living room, bathroom and bedroom, along with furniture such as tables and chairs that are also created with a 3D printer.
The first house applied by 3D printing method has been successfully built from Apis Cor company. This house cost less than $11,000 to build. Instead of building buildings on traditional foundations, the company used a mobile 3D printer to create solid concrete walls. Then they link them together into a complete design.
ICON – an Austin-based startup – thinks 3D printing is the key to solving the problem of low-cost housing. ICON has developed a method to print a 60.3 square meter house in 12 to 24 hours. This is an insignificant amount of time compared to building a similar house by conventional methods.
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