World first: first fully-fledged 3D printed house in one piece at Kamp C
No more dreaming of a fully-fledged 3D printed house in Flanders, as from September we can actually visit it. At Kamp C, the Westerlo-based provincial Centre for Sustainability and Innovation in construction, a ninety square metre house was printed using the largest 3D concrete printer in Europe. The house consists of two floors and was printed in one piece with a fixed printer. With this, Kamp C, together with its eight project partners ‘Beneens, ETIB/CONCRETE HOUSE, Groep Van Roey, Thomas More, Trias Architects, Ugent, Vicré and Saint-Gobain Weber’, has achieved a world first.
The first fully-fledged 3D printed demo house in Flanders can be visited by the public from September on the site of Kamp C in Westerlo. One thing that makes the house so unique, is that it was printed in one piece with a fixed 3D concrete printer. Emiel Ascione, project manager at Kamp C, explains: “The houses that have already been printed all over the world only have one floor. In many cases, the components were printed in a factory and were assembled on-site. We, however, printed the entire building envelope in one piece on-site”. Due to the material’s compressive strength, the printed house is also three times sturdier than a house built with quick build bricks.
All printing days combined, the two-storey house at Kamp C was printed in just three weeks. The house should be a demo building designed to showcase the technology and the potential of 3D printing in the construction industry. Among other things, an overhang, strongly curved walls, and different wall types were printed; things that are more difficult to realise and/or more labour intensive with conventional techniques. The house also demonstrates that 3D concrete printing can help provide solutions to the challenges posed by the transition to sustainable living. For example, the technology of 3D printing makes the formwork redundant, saving an estimated sixty percent of the material, time, and money.
The 3D printed house will be developed into a low-energy house, equipped with all mod cons, including floor and ceiling heating, special façade solar panels, a heat pump, and a green roof. Based on the principle of circular building, the house will continue to function as a demo building with multipurpose options: home, office, exhibition space or meeting space. The demo house is part of the European C3PO project with support from ERDF (the European Regional Development Fund), which aims to accelerate the introduction of the innovative 3D printing technique in the construction industry in Flanders. The printed house, which is unique in the world, is already a great incentive for 3D printing in construction and also challenges the sector to think more ‘out of the box’.
More info and a video of the project can be found here.
Photos: © Kamp C