Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is famous for its concrete 3D-printing program, led by professor Theo Salet, which famously built the world’s first 3D-printed concrete bike and pedestrian bridge. TU/e is back with Project Milestone, a project aimed at 3D-printing five concrete houses over the next five years.
Although these won’t be the first 3D-printed buildings—China’s WinSun 3D-printed several demo houses, Dubai unveiled the “Office of the Future” office building in 2016 and the Netherlands’ own CyBe Construction put a show house in Milan this past April—they are the first structures printed specifically to be lived in.
“The project is the world’s first commercial housing project based on 3D-concrete printing,” the university’s spokesperson said. “The houses will all be occupied. They will meet all modern comfort requirements, and they will be purchased and let out by a real estate company [Dutch company Vesteda].”
The first house, which will be a single story and have three rooms, is slated for construction later this year. The other four houses will be multiple story. They are slated to be built after construction of the first one is complete in mid-2019.
The researchers plan to build each house in sequence, learning from the houses that have been built to improve upon subsequent builds. While the first house will be printed at the university and moved to location, the goal is to move production over to the location so that the last house will be printed and made entirely onsite.
The houses will be made of irregular shapes, a design the team says was based on “erratic blocks in the green landscape.”
“3D-printing of concrete is a potential game changer in the building industry,” according to Salet’s team. “Besides the ability to construct almost any shape, it also enables architects to design very fine concrete structures."
One of the university’s aims is to make the buildings sustainable. For example, the houses will not have natural gas connections, which is rare for Dutch homes. Sustainability will also be a part of the construction; 3D-printed houses involve less cement, thus produce lower emissions during construction.
The ambitious project was a collaboration between TU/e, the municipality of Eindhoven and several industry players. According to Salet, the partnership was necessary to make Project Milestone work.
“It’s so unique that we’re able to do this project because the municipality can’t do it alone, the industry can’t do it alone because it’s too expensive, and the university can’t do it alone, either,” he said, in the university’s promotional video for the project. “Three parties that can’t do it alone, but can do it together.”