Built on-site in Moscow over only 24 hour hours and costing only $10k, this 3D printed house was part of a showcase from Russian company Apis Cor.
According to the company website, Apis Cor collaborated with Russian public developer PIK, back in December 2016 to print the 38 m² house.
“Printing of self-bearing walls, partitions and building envelope were done in less than a day, Apis Cor confirms. “Pure machine time of printing amounted to 24 hours”.
After completing the wall structures, the printer was removed from the building with a crane. This was a first for Russia, with previous projects requiring of-site printing, then assembly.
The unusaul design of the house is not due to limitations of 3D printing, but rather the opposite – to demonstrate its flexibility.
“The house can be of any shape, including the familiar square shape, because the additive technology has no restrictions on design of new buildings,” Apis Cor says, “except for the laws of physics.”
Samsung even provided the TV – with the same radius of curvature as a curved wall in the house.
The total construction cost of the printed house amounted to $10134, or around $275 per square meter.
“This cost includes all the works that were done to make a complete house: work and materials for the construction of foundation, roof, exterior and interior finishing works, installation of heat insulation of walls, windows, floors and ceilings,” Apis Cor says.
So how does this compare to tradition construction? Apis Cor explains:
As the printer prints self-bearing walls and partitions, it allows us to save up to 70 per cent on erecting building boxes compared to traditional construction techniques, such as with block method, because each block has to has to be put in place, cut to size and aligned.
Also there is the necessity to bring the required equipment and tools to the construction site, replace them after breakage, unload materials, oversee the builders. Often there is a risk of human error, and completion of a standard cottage house on average can take up to two months.
The total size of the construction savings can’t be hard fixed, since it does not depend only on the work of the 3D printer, which is not involved in other construction works. Desires and imagination of the building owners will influence the choice of materials for furnishing, insulation, engineering and, consequently, the total price.
But the savings on your building walls will always be the same.