Meet the first two-story, 3D-printed concrete house in Houston, Texas. The project, led by HANNAH, PERI 3D Construction, and CIVE, began construction in September. While 3D printing is making waves in a variety of industries, this accomplishment is the first of its kind.
3D Printing a House
3D printing is not a new concept in architectural design. For many years, engineers and architects have used 3D-printed molds to create miniature layouts of houses, buildings, and other infrastructure. However, with increased demand for additive manufacturing with optimal performance, mass customization of design solutions has led to hybrid construction methods.
3D construction printing processesuse additive manufacturing and automated processes to fabricate house structures with pinpoint precision.
The construction partners behind the project strategically integrated customized architectural designs and merged them with resilient structural systems to create the 4,000-square-foot house. The project aims to increase the U.S.’s 3D printing potential, especially in construction techniques, by implementing design elements that can scale with the size of a building.
The design and planning of the 2-story house, which required extensive research and collaborative efforts, took around two years to bring to life. Peri 3D Construction used COBOD BOD2 gantry printers to construct the house.
The building’s design was conceptualized as a series of 3D-printed cores for stairs and spaces. The house’s spatial cores are connected using wood framing, reproducing architectural alternations of its interiors.
The Future of 3D-printed Houses
The U.S. has made major strides in 3D printing construction in the last decade and this is not the first concrete construction project that relies on 3D printing. A notable example is SpaceX, which relied on 3D printing to extend its facility on South Padre Island in Texas.
As well, the U.S. Department of Defense is building three transient training barracks using 3D printing technology.
In the future, the design for the 2-story, 3D-printed house could be further applied to other multi-family and mixed-use constructions.
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