Although this is not new, the movement is gaining momentum across the Atlantic.
While 3D house printing has been experimented with for around ten years, initially for unique, small-scale projects, several developers have recently embarked on larger-scale projects in California, Texas and even in Arizona, as told by
Les Échos
.
How does it work ?
The walls of the future houses are built with a very specific concrete, deposited layer after layer using a print head, itself directly controlled by a computer.
The construction of a wall in 3D, by gradually adding layers of concrete.
Screenshot / Insider Art.
One of the most spectacular subdivisions is that of Wolf Ranch, in the city of Austin (Texas), which includes nearly 100 housing units, some of which have already found buyers.
On average, the purchase price is around $500,000.
To build them, a huge printer, named Vulcan, 4.5 meters high, was installed on a rail.
He gradually lays pieces of concrete.
“Not everyone wants to live in a house whose walls look like they came out of a tube of toothpaste,”
says
Jack
Oslan, CEO of Diamond Age 3D, a start-up that builds a set of real estate in Casa Grande, Arizona
.
Our approach is to build conventional houses, but in an unconventional way.”
Automation of up to 25%
His company uses a 3D scanner which will work on a digital plan of the future structure.
“Walls only make up about 9% of a house’s construction.
With our system, we are already able to automate up to 25% of construction, and our objective is between 60% and 70%
,” adds this entrepreneur.
And to highlight the time savings obtained with this technology:
“In the United States, it takes between six and nine months to completely build a single-family house.
We managed to do it in just 58 days and we think we can get it down to around 30 days.”
Automation that would also address the labor shortage in the United States.
Particularly among the younger generations, who no longer want to specialize in a profession that is too repetitive and difficult.