A full-size 3D-printed house is under construction in Amsterdam

By David Nield March 30, 2014

full size 3d printed house construction amsterdam — Image used with permission by copyright holder

From life-saving implants to cars and furniture, it seems that the capabilities of 3D printing are constantly expanding. Now work on a full-scale house has begun in Amsterdam, an ambitious proof-of-concept project that is expected to take three years to complete.

Dus Architects is the firm behind the building project, which uses an industrial-scale KamerMaker (Room Builder) 3D printer to produce plastic parts that are then locked together to form walls, floors and furniture. Eventually, the house will have 13 separate rooms, with lightweight concrete used to provide structural support and insulation.

“We’re still perfecting the technology,” Dus Architect’s Hedwig Heinsman told the Guardian. “We will continue to test over the next three years, as the technology evolves… It’s an experiment. We called it the Room Maker, but it’s also a conversation maker.” President Obama was shown some of the prototype designs during his visit to the Netherlands last week.

If the technology becomes practical enough to be used on a more widespread basis, it could change the way buildings are constructed. Waste and transportation costs would be dramatically reduced, while 3D-printed homes and offices could theoretically be recycled when they were no longer needed. The material currently being used by the project developers is a bioplastic mix which is made up of plant oil and microfibres.

“This could revolutionize how we make our cities,” says Heinsman. “This is only the beginning, but there could be endless possibilities, from printing functional solutions locally in slums and disaster areas, to high-end hotel rooms that are individually customized and printed in marble dust.”

After three weeks of work, the 3D Print Canal House team have put together a 3 meter-high sample corner that weighs 180kg. As more parts are completed, they will be stacked up in the style of a Lego structure. To view the plans in more detail, and to see images from the construction area, head over to 3D Print Canal House’s official website.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Emerging Tech

Contributor

Dave is a freelance journalist from Manchester in the north-west of England. He's been writing about technology since the…

Deals

Father’s Day Gift Idea: These cheap 3D printers are on sale for less than $300

best 3d printer deals featured image

3D printing has become a lot more accessible these days than it had been in the past. Back then, you'd have to shell out as much as $1,000 for one. Today, however, there are plenty of budget 3D printers out that cost less than $300, such as the Monoprice Mini Delta, Longer Orange 10, and Comgrow Creality Ender 3. These are fantastic gifts for dad and if you order today they'll surely arrive before Father's Day.
Monoprice Mini Delta -- $160, was $176

The incredible thing about the Monoprice Delta Mini, aside from the fact that it's one of the cheapest 3D printers on the market, is that it boasts a range of advanced features you typically won't find in a $160 3D printer. It has a sturdy, all-metal frame, a heated build plate that helps prevent warping, automatic bed leveling functionality, a maximum resolution of 50 microns, a full-color LCD screen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and compatibility with a wide range of materials. For something that costs less than a FitBit, all that stuff baked-in is pretty impressive. That's not to say the Monoprice Mini Delta is all that great. For starters, it's called Mini because its printing area is only 110 millimeters in diameter (4.3 inches), and 120 millimeters tall (4.7 inches), which definitely puts a limit on what objects you can print.

Emerging Tech

The 50-year old Silicon Valley lab that practically invented modern computing

50 years xerox parc alan kay

If I was a betting man, I’d wager that you’re reading this article from home. Why? Because, in the age of COVID-19, home is where just about everyone is these days. The fact that you’re reading this article in the way that you are, however, owes more than a passing debt to a Silicon Valley research laboratory called Xerox PARC, an abbreviation for Palo Alto Research Center.

Turning 50 years old this year, PARC changed the way that we use computers on a profound level. Far outstripping its remit as the research and development wing over the Xerox Corporation, it was to computing what Neils Bohr's institute at Copenhagen was for quantum physics in the 1920s or Motown Records was for soul music in the 1960s.

Emerging Tech

3D printing lets hospitals make ventilator substitutes with common equipment

PEEP mask 1

Materialise 3D Prints Non-Invasive PEEP Masks to Alleviate Ventilator Shortage

Many hospitals around the world currently have an alarming shortage of mechanical ventilators, which they can use to treat COVID-19 patients. Responding to this crisis, Belgian 3D printing company Materialise has developed a 3D-printable device that transforms standard equipment available in the majority of hospitals into a mask that can help coronavirus patients get the oxygen they desperately need into their lungs. The company’s smart solution promises to create high positive pressure in patients’ lungs without the use of a traditional ventilator.