Germany’s first 3D printed residential building is almost ready

After 100 hours of 3D printing over ten months, Germany’s first 3D printed residential building is close to completion and will open its doors to visitors in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia, starting from August. Designed by Mense-Korte ingenieure+architekten, the property was printed with a a 3D construction printer called “BOD2”, reportedly the fastest on the market as it can complete a 1sqm double-skin wall in under five minutes at a speed of 2.2 mph (1 m/s). The printing process was carried out by PERI, a family-owned building company, with the Danish manufacturer COBOD, and facilitated the construction phase in a time and cost-effective way. The material used, “i.tech 3D”, is a printing mortar created by the manufacturers HeidelbergCement who designed it to meet the unique needs of 3D construction printing and specifically adapted it to the BOD2 printer.

With around 160sqm of living space, the building can accomodate five flats and the structure is made of multi-layered walls filled with insulating material or ready-mixed concrete. The project won the German Innovation Award from the German Design Council, which recognises projects that advance their industry through originality, application and effectiveness.