A 3D printer literally takes home building to a new level. The massive printer, weighing more than 12 tons, will create what is believed to be the first 3Dprinted twostory house in the United States.
The machine keeps humming as it pours layers of concrete to build the 1,200squarefoot home in Houston.
Construction will take a total of 330 printing hours, said architect Leslie Lok, cofounder of design studio Hannah and designer of the home.
Aerial view of the construction of a giant 3D printer house in Houston, Texas (USA)
Image: Evan Garcia/Portal
“In fact, you can find a lot of 3D printed buildings in a lot of states,” Lok said. “One of the things about printing a second story is that you need the machine… And of course there are other challenges: structural challenges, logistical challenges when we’re printing a twostory building.”
The threebedroom timberframe house is halfway through the process and will be sold to a family who prefer to remain anonymous, she said.
A contractor watches as a 3D printer pours concrete into a house wall in Houston, Texas.
Image: Evan Garcia/Portal
The project is a twoyear collaboration between Hannah, Peri 3D Construction and Cive, a civil engineering company.
Hikmat Zerbe, head of structural design at Cive, hopes that the innovative technology will one day help to build apartment buildings faster and cheaper.
In addition, concrete can withstand hurricanes, strong winds, and other severe Texas weather events that are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.
And since the printer does all the heavy lifting, fewer workers are needed on the job site.
“Traditional building, you know the rules, you know the game, you know the material properties, the material behavior. Everything is new here,” said Zerbe. “The material is new, although concrete in general is an old material, but 3D printed concrete is something new.”
(Reporting by Evan Garcia)