Shaping the future of Home

TRANSFORMING ANCIENT MATERIALS WITH TECHNOLOGIES OF TODAY AND NOT A STRAIGHT WALL IN SIGHT

3D printed home Italy WASP

This year has seen developments in 3D homes move fast - long hailed as a potential solution for quickly and efficiently building housing. 

This month, a Dutch couple became the first people in Europe to move into a 3D printed home that is efficient, practical and surprising tactile. Using a mixture of sustainable materials and 3D printed furniture and fittings such as a baths, the latest structures to be completed combine modern technology and locally sourced materials such as clay.

Located in Eindhoven, the single storey home was built as part of a five-home 3D printing scheme named project milestone.  The home was designed by Dutch architects, Houben & Van Mierlo and has curved sloped exterior walls and is constructed using stacked layers of concrete. Printed nearby and then transported to the site to be assembled with a roof, windows and doors. Inside, the stacked concrete walls were left exposed to reveal the layered texture that gives a look of hand-crafted design. 

 ‘We’re setting the tone for the future: the rapid realisation of affordable homes with control over the shape of your own house.” Yasin Torunglu, Eindhoven alderman for housing. 

Project Milestone Eindhoven 3 Printed Home where even the door key is digital - via an app

The project named ‘Milestone’ is a collaboration between the Eindhoven university of technology and a number of building and construction specialists. The scheme has created five 3D printed homes – each designed differently and becoming more complex through the use of different printing techniques and the addition of multiple floors. 

Another recent example of 3D printed homes mirroring nature with pleasing results is Tecla House. In collaboration with Bologna-based Mario Cucinella Architects and 3D printing specialists WASP, Tecla House in Italy created homes in under 200 hours consuming only six kilowatts of power. The homes which are similar in construction to a hive are made of 350 layers of stacked 3D printed clay. The end result is structurally and thermally sound but also tactile. 

It’s an interesting time to be an architect. The method could reduce typical construction waste entirely. In the words of WASP founder, Massimo Moretti “Tecla shows that a beautiful, healthy and sustainable home can be built by a machine, giving the essential information to the local raw material.”