A collaboration between the Technical University Eindhoven, the municipality Eindhoven and several companies have announced they will construct the world’s first habitable 3D printed house, the first of five in total, which will be constructed from concrete in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

3D printing houses has several advantages. For one, the method allows more design freedom and it’s quicker, but it also saves material, reducing the carbon footprint of a building.

Concrete houses and other buildings have been 3D printed before, like one in Russia and one printed ‘live’ at the Milan Design Week. The novelty here, however, according to the TU Eindhoven, is that the houses will be habitable. This means that the houses have to meet strict building regulations, as well as the demands of the occupants regarding division, comfort, affordability, and quality.

The first house, to be finished in the first half of 2019, will be single-floor and is printed off-site, but the aim is to print the fifth house, which will have 3 floors, on-site, so that the parts won’t have to be transported anymore.

The houses are designed by Houben/Van Mierlo architects and are inspired by boulders in a green landscape.

The project is realised by the TU Eindhoven, the municipality Eindhoven and companies Van Wijnen, Vesteda, Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix and Witteveen+Bos.

The TU Eindhoven is a global front-runner when it comes to 3D printing concrete. In 2015, the Cement&Concrete Centre in the Netherlands initiated a challenge to study the architectural potential of 3D printing concrete, in which 3 selected architectural firms developed 3 prototypes, in collaboration with the TU Eindhoven.

One of these projects is Fire Wall by Bekkering Adams Architects, which was on display during Material Xperience 2018. The design shows that you can integrate rich ornaments and patterns using 3D printing, as well as other materials. If the wall is integrated in a fireplace, it shows a spectacle of light and shadow.

Photos: TU Eindhoven / Houben/Van Mierlo (via Omroep Brabant) / Bekking Adams