Inside Germany’s first-ever printed 3D-house

A full-fledged family home straight from the 3D printer? Sounds like Sci-fi but it’s actually true. We took a look inside Germany’s first-ever printed 3D house.

Inspired by pioneer projects in the US and China, Germany followed suit and now has its prototype model – including innovative technology made by the german electrical company Gira. The real estate market is changing and evolving at a rapid pace. Architects are constantly trying to find new ways of building and living – and thus make housing more affordable and, most of all, sustainable. With that vision in mind, a group of German architects set out on an unprecedented venture: they designed the country’s first 3D-printed house in Beckum, complete with comfortable furnishing and intelligent technology.

Operating with a particular concrete 3C printer that spanned over 12 meters, the team behind the construction managed to construct a two-storey building with 160 square meters of living space.

The house can accommodate a big family, as it includes three bathrooms, the first level has an open floor plan including a living room, dining area, and a cosy fireplace in the middle. The second floor consists of three separate bedrooms. Since a 3D printer made the whole building, it took less than a year to complete construction.

Almost every permanent installation came out of the concrete printer. Round shapes require less effort than square objects, hence the eye-catching geometric design. To ensure everything would fit seamlessly, the architects equipped the interior with customised furniture. They decided to use recyclable materials only – even if that meant compromising on thermal conductivity. In the end, the 3D-printed house still turned out to comply with high standards of energy efficiency.

An integrated ventilation system provides fresh, clean air in each room. Behind the ceiling, the architects placed heating mats warming up or cooling down by air-heating pumps to regulate indoor temperatures. The 3D-printed home also has a hot water storage. All in all, the construction was built in the most sustainable way possible – from the choice of materials to the use of energy.

After all, the finished home should be both spacious and high-tech and energy-efficient.

Tapmeier, a German specialist in electronic engineering, installed various smart devices at the 3D-printed house. Like automated lighting, blinds and heating, a pushbutton sensor to operate different functions around the house and smart switches.

The prototype model in Beckum, Germany, amounts to a value of about 450,000 €. However, this includes rather luxurious furnishing and high-end smart devices. One must also consider that architects have only just started to develop housing based on 3D printing. The number of printers suitable for huge projects is still limited. But as technology progresses, 3D-printed houses will become increasingly easy to build – and thus increasingly affordable.

The team building the first-ever 3D house in Germany has high hopes for the future: they plan to make individually designed, sustainable 3D homes accessible for the average customer in five year’s time.