Wouldn’t it be wonderful for you to get home the next day you thought of owning one? Nowadays, 3D printing technology is invading many fields of industry, one of which is the construction business. The American 3D printing company Apis Cor and Russian real estate developer collaborated, earlier this year, in building the world’s first 3D printed house in only 24 hours. The 3D Printed House stands today in Stupino, a town close to Moscow, Russia.
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An automatic unit of mix and supply and a mobile 3D printer were utilized in building the residential house. They were developed by Apis Cor particularly for this purpose. The printer, which acted similarly to a crane, built all the items of the house. It constructed the whole building as a single unit, from the exterior to the interior, including all the walls and partitions. That was in contrary to custom 3D printing which creates the building parts as separate pieces, in facilities away from the construction site. The separate panels are then brought back to be assembled and connected on-site. Apis Cor’s curved-shaped house has an area of 37 square meters (400 square feet). This particular shape was selected rather than others. It was chosen to highlight the magnificent capabilities of the 3D printer that can create any desired building shape. The house includes a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a hallway. One of the five partners in this project is Samsung which supplied the house with all the needed appliances, among which was a curved TV to fit onto the curved wall of the living room. Although the roof is flat, it is capable of enduring snow load specifications for buildings. That was achieved by using patches of polymer membranes, linked together utilizing hot air. Installation of doors and windows occurred after completion of the building process. One of the many advantages of the 3D printing process is that it is flexible and adaptable. It allows different kinds of installations as well as fittings to be included during the building process.
courtesy of Apis Cor.
Construction of the Apis Cor House:
The weather, however, was not in favor of the construction process. The construction of the 3D printed house took place in the severe winter of Russia. Although the printer itself can function at temperatures down to -35 degrees Celsius, the concrete mixture it uses can only form at a temperature exceeding 5 degrees Celsius. Therefore, a tent was used to insulate the perimeter and to provide better temperature conditions for the concrete mixture. Geopolymers will enable construction companies in the future to build 3D houses at any season of the year. Another advantage of the new technique is the low cost of the created buildings as opposed to the ordinary block buildings. The novel method saves up to 70% of the construction cost. The 3D printed building produced by Apis Cor cost $10,134, which means $275 for every square meter. This cost includes every single aspect of construction exteriorly and interiorly like the roof, the insulation, the finishes, and of course the foundation. The doors and windows were the most expensive items of the house.
All images courtesy of Apis Cor.
