A social housing building in France, created by the University of Nantes and partners in the so-called YHNOVA BatiPrint3D project, is the world’s first 3D printed house to be inhabited.

The 95 square metre (1022 square feet) house is built for a family of five, with four bedrooms and big central space. The house is located in Nantes, where it was created in a collaboration between the city council, a housing association and the University of Nantes.

The house was designed by a team of architects and scientists and then programmed into the 3D printer, which printed the house on site. Each wall consists of two layers of polyurethane as insulator, with a space in-between filled with cement, to create a thick, insulated, durable wall. The house has “a bold architectural design”, with curved walls to reduce the effects of humidity and digital controls for disabled people.

The building was 3D printed in 54 hours, though it took 4 more months for contractors to add things like windows, doors and the roof. Thanks to the 3D printing technique, the house was about 20 per cent cheaper than for the same construction using traditional solutions. The team aims to 3D print the next house in only 33 hours.

Nordine and Nouria Ramdani, along with their three children, were chosen to live in the house as of 29 June.

The house is the brainchild of Benoît Furet, professor at the University of Nantes, and built for the Nantes Digital Week in September 2017. The aim of the project is to see if this type of construction could become mainstream for (social) housing or other communal buildings. Furet believes that the costs of construction of such houses will be reduced by 25 per cent while adhering to building regulations and by 40 per cent in 10 to 15 years, when the technology becomes more refined and cheaper to develop.

For other 3D printed houses, click here.

Photos: BBC News / YHNOVA