3D house

First 3D printed house

The first 3D-printed demo house in Flanders is a reality. The house consists of two floors, is ninety square metres and eight metres high. This is the size of an average Kempen terraced house. "What is unique is that we have printed the house in one whole with a stationary 3D concrete printer," says Emiel Ascione, project manager at Kamp C. "The houses that have already been printed worldwide have only one floor and, moreover, are often printed in parts in the factory and assembled on site. We have printed the entire building envelope as a single unit on site."

With this achievement, the project partners aim to warm up the construction industry to implement 3D concrete printing in their construction techniques. There is already a lot of interest from the construction industry. 3D printing in construction is booming all over the world. Countless possibilities such as printing temporary housing to complete flats are already being implemented, but in Flanders this is new. However, we face improbable challenges in construction: the consumption of materials and energy must be reduced, we must work on CO2 reduction, the waste stream must be smaller, there is an increasing demand for high-quality and affordable housing, and so on. We at Kamp C believe that new technologies, such as 3D concrete printing, can help answer these. That's why we created this unique location on our site where companies from the construction sector can experiment with 3D printing to the full together with research and educational institutions.

Three times stronger

The printed house is three times stronger than a house built with quick-build bricks. "The compressive strength of the material is three times higher than the classic quick build brick," explains Marijke Aerts, project manager at Kamp C. This first house is a test building and it will be examined whether the strength is maintained over time. Apart from the fibres contained in the concrete, only minimal shrinkage reinforcement was used. The printing technology eliminates the need for shuttering concrete. This saves an estimated 60 per cent in materials, time and money. Thus, in future, a house could be printed in two days. Adding up all the printing days, the house at Kamp C was printed in barely three weeks.

Demo house

The house is a demo building that aims to showcase the techniques and capabilities of 3D printing as much as possible. "An overhang was printed, it has highly curved walls, different wall types, ... Solutions were also introduced for the classic building nodes so that they are completely cold-bridge free," Ascione explains. "The house will be expanded into a low-energy house equipped with all comforts: there is floor and ceiling heating, special facade solar panels and a heat pump are installed, and there will be a green roof."

When construction began, we did not know what function the building would have. The aim was to print the area, height and shape of an average contemporary house, but as a demo building with multifunctional possibilities. This is a principle of circular construction. It can function as a home, meeting room, office or exhibition space.

Today, after a demo period, the 3D house is being used as office space for the construction company Aertssen.