Chinese Firm Uses 3D Printer to Print 10 Houses in a Day

Chinese Firm Uses 3D Printer to Print 10 Houses in a Day

A Chinese construction firm based in Shanghai has succeeded in building 10 houses in 24 hours by using a huge 3D printer.

WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co. spent 20 million Yuan (£1.9m) and took 12 years to develop a giant 3D printer (which stands 6.6 metres tall, 10 metres wide and 150 metres long) that sprays a mixture of cement and construction waste to create permanent structures layer by layer.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this project is that the 3D printer even took into account the tracing paths for the plumbing, electrical lining, insulation materials and windows, which were added once the main structure was completed.

WinSun chief executive Ma Yihe is bullish about the future of 3D printed buildings: "We can print buildings to any digital design our customers bring us. It's fast and cheap." He hopes his printers can be used to build skyscrapers in the future. At the moment, however, Chinese construction regulations do not allow multi-storey 3D printed houses.

He added: "This would create a much safer environment for construction workers and greatly reduce construction costs."

Greatly reducing construction costs is not an understatement, the cheap materials used and the lack of manual labour means that these 3D printed houses, all measuring an impressive 200 square metres, cost under £3,000 each to build (well, print.)

All images courtesy of WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co.