World’s First 3D Apartment Complex Printed In China
Last week the Chinese company Winsun 3D-printed a six-story apartment building and a huge 1,100 square meter villa.
Both buildings were printed in the city of Suzhou, and according to the company the apartment complex is the first of its kind using a printer that is 6.60 meters high, 10 meters wide and 40 meters long. Despite using the same machine for both, the design of the two buildings differs — the villa is decorated on the inside and outside with a lot of detailed ornaments and pillars, while the apartment building is more simple and modest.
Individual parts of the houses were printed separately and then brought to the building site, where everything was assembled and insulation was installed. The walls themselves are hollow, but are comprised of a zigzagged pattern in order to make them extra strong. The design makes the house more flexible rendering them more resistant to earthquakes.
Printing a house doesn’t only save time — according to Winsun, it also reduces waste and costs. The buildings are manufactured using a special ink comprised of building waste, cement, glass fibre, sand, and a special hardener, which ensures 30 to 60% less waste than a regular building. There’s also a 50 to 70% cut in construction time, and 50 to 80% lower cost of construction thanks to the lack of employees requiring payment. In the end the house costs about €140,000.