construction work has begun on the the largest 3D-printed apartment building in europe. located in bavaria, germany, the building will accommodate five apartments across three floors with approximately 380 square metres (4,000 square feet) of living space built using a 3D construction printer called ‘BOD2’. as the printer is the fastest on the market, the team behind the ambitious scheme say that they only expect the printing process to take six weeks.

3D-printed apartment building
image and video courtesy of COBOD

 

 

for the development, PERI, a family-owned building company, teamed up with COBOD who supplied its BOD2 printer. the system has a print head that moves about 3 axes on a securely installed metallic frame. this means that the printer can move along to any position within the construction and only needs to be calibrated once — saving time and cutting costs.

3D-printed apartment building
image courtesy of PERI

 

 

during the process, the printer takes into account the pipes and connections for water, electricity, and other utilities that are to be installed at a later date. importantly, the BOD2 has been certified in such a way that it is possible to carry out work within the printing area while printing is in progress. this means that manual work, such as the installation of empty pipes and connections, can be easily integrated into the printing process.

the first 3D-printed apartment building in germany is under construction
image courtesy of PERI

 

 

the ‘i.tech 3D’ material that is being used to print the building has been developed by HeidelbergCement, who say that the material has ‘excellent pumping and extruding characteristics’. two operators are required to run the printer with the print head and the print results are monitored by camera. with a speed of 1 m/s, the BOD2 takes just five minutes to complete 1 square meter of a double-skin wall. once construction is complete, the apartments will be rented out with one of the units used as a show apartment.

 

 

project info:

 

name: 3D-printed apartment building
location: wallenhausen, germany
builder: PERI
3D printer: BOD2
client: michael rupp bauunternehmung GmbH
planning architect: mühlich, fink & partner
printable concrete: HeidelbergCement
mixing technology: m-tec mathis technik GmbH
preparation work: schießl gehlen sodeikat
approval tests: technical university of munich