Technology
Rome may not have been built in a day, but this 3D house was and it could be the way of the future.
Imagine if you could press print on your new home and move in within 24 hours. Sounds insane, but it could be the future if founder of Apis Cor, Nikita Chen-yun-tai, gets his way. In fact, Chen-yun-tai says his company is "ready to be the first to start printing on Mars." But before that, they're printing in Russia. We take a look at the first ever on-site 3D-printed house and what it might mean for the market.
Chen-yun-tai says the Apis Cor mobile 3D printer was born out of "a desire to automate everything."
"When I first thought about creating my machine, the world already knew about the construction of 3D printing," Chen-yun-tai says. "But all printers created before shared one thing in common – they were portal type. I'm sure that such a design doesn't have a future due to its bulkiness. So I took care of this limitation and decided to upgrade a construction crane design."
It's an idea that sure seems to be working. Apis Cor constructed the world's very first 3D house printed on-site early this year, and it's still standing in Stupino, Russia. The whole process took less than 24 hours.
According to Apis Cor, the unusual curved design of the 38 sq m single-storey residential house was selected to "demonstrate the flexibility of the equipment and diversity of available forms."
Watch the house printing process in the video below.
Building in winter added to the complexity as the concrete 'ink' mixture can only be used for printing in temperatures above 5°C, requiring Apis Cor to set up a temperature-controlled tent around the site. However, in future new materials such as geopolymer should make this easier, providing the ability to print year-round.
Despite being reminiscent of a tower crane, Chen-yun-tai says the 3D printer is small and easy to transport, and its design allows it to print both inside and out, while the highly automated printing process reduces the potential for human error.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect however, is the cost. The entire build came to just US$10,134. That's around US$275 per square metre, using the highest quality materials and building in a uniquely curved shape. Apis Cor say a square-shaped build would be cheaper still, at around US$233 per square metre – not bad when you consider the average UK house price is around US$288,655.
According to Chen-yun-tai, Apis Cor now plan to start printing houses in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and Australia – even Antarctica if needed.
"We want to help people around the world to improve their living conditions. That's why the construction process needs to become fast, efficient and high-quality as well," Chen-yun-tai says. "For this to happen we need to delegate all the hard work to smart machines.
"We want to change global public views that construction can't be fast, eco-friendly, efficient and reliable at the same time. Our goal is to become the biggest international construction company to solve problems of accommodation around the globe."
And when all the space on this green earth runs out?
"When there isn't enough space on Earth for humanity to live, we're ready to be first to start building on Mars."
Find out more about Apis Cor and their quest to print your next home over on their website.