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See the huge 3D-printer that built the walls of a 400-square-foot concrete tiny home in 22 hourshttps://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/see-the-huge-3d-printer-that-built-the-walls-of-a-400-square-foot-concrete-tiny-home-in-22-hours/slidelist/93190127.cms2022-07-28T18:19:36+05:30

See the huge 3D-printer that built the walls of a 400-square-foot concrete tiny home in 22 hours

Brittany ChangJul 28, 2022, 18:19 IST

Several 3D printing construction-tech startups are now quietly dominating the antiquated home construction space.

And the latest addition to this tech-forward scene has already made an international splash: Danish startup 3DCP Group's first build, a concrete tiny home with walls that were printed in 22 hours.

Printable homes may sound like a futuristic and unattainable concept, but proponents are already making bold promises about tech's ability to slash construction time and costs.

Enthusiasts view printing systems as a potential answer to our ongoing housing shortage and affordability crisis.

Home construction no longer has to be a year-long project.

Now, homes can be built in a fraction of the time while using fewer building materials with reduced labor needs.

And within the next 10 years, Mikkel Brich, the cofounder and CEO of 3DCP Group, believes 3D printers could cut the price of homes by 50%.

With all these benefits, it's no surprise the proliferation of 3D printing construction tech is already happening: Zack Mannheimer, the CEO of 3D printing construction company Alquist, believes more houses will be 3D printed than built conventionally by 2027.

There are already a handful of 3D-printed buildings around the world that serve as a testament to how quickly and successfully printers can create homes.

In March, Texas startup Icon printed the walls of its 2,000-square-foot luxury home in Austin, Texas in eight days despite hardware and weather issues.

Shortly after, nonprofit Thinking Huts used COBOD's popular BOD2 printer to create the walls of a Madagascar school in 18 hours.

On the heels of these two major projects, 3DCP Group used the same BOD2 printing system to build its first project and "proof of concept": a 398-square-foot tiny home in Denmark.

On paper, a tiny home might not seem as impressive as a luxury home or school building.

But according to Brich, the petite home has many firsts.

It's topped with the world's first 3D-printed roof …

… and is the first project to be printed using pure concrete instead of a mix, he noted.

To create the tiny home, 3DCP Group borrowed COBOD's 3D printer and employees, limiting the startup's design and build time to just a little over a month.

Five weeks is an unusually constrained amount of time to create a home from scratch.

So to meet this rushed deadline, the team had to work 18-hour days.

The installation of the COBOD printer on the property took eight hours, Brich told Insider in an email.

And half of that time was spent precisely placing the printer's foundation — four concrete blocks — into place.

But after the system was installed, the printer was able to produce the concrete walls of the tiny home in 22 hours.

And according to Brich, this time could've been reduced to 10 hours if the startup didn't have to follow Denmark's construction regulations …

… a testament to the efficiency of 3D printers.

Think of the printing system as a piping bag with a nozzle that can excrete concrete according to the coordinates of the construction plan.

By using a precise automated system, the walls can be built on demand.

And because the 3D printing software offers some flexibility, the team was able to redesign parts of the tiny home mid-print to correct any mistakes or design changes.

After the five-week dash and a series of tests, the completed home opened to the public in March.

And much to Brich's surprise, it drew in international crowds from countries like the US, Singapore, Australia, and Guatemala.

"We are tapping into the fascination with the future," Brich said. "It's almost science fiction.

And it's easy to see why the public has been so fascinated with a little home that "went above all expectations," Brich said.

The build may be small, but it serves as a physical representation of the next generation of homebuilding.

And it's not every day people get to see a home with curved piped walls, a unique trademark of 3D printed homes.

"It doesn't look that impressive when you drive past it, but actually it is quite a huge leap for the construction industry and the future of construction," Brich said.

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