Construction of the first government-approved two-story 3D printed home has been completed in Japan. Understandably, the land of the rising sun has stringent seismic compliance regulations, so this is a big milestone for the 3D Construction Printers (3DCP) business and the housing market.
COBOD, which claims to be the “world leader in 3D construction printing solutions,” said its 3DCP system was used for this “cave-inspired” architectural wonder. The actual on-site home building/fabrication work was executed by Kizuki Co., Ltd in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Meanwhile, the eye-catching design of this two-story dwelling was likely steered by project collaborator Onocom, an architectural services company.
“Japan has some of the most demanding seismic requirements in the world. Seeing a government-approved two-story 3D printed reinforced concrete house completed here confirms that 3D construction printing is ready for projects that rely on structural precision and consistent quality, also in seismic areas,” commented Henrik Lund-Nielsen, Founder and General Manager of COBOD International. “The collaboration demonstrates how our technology handles complex geometry, varying climate conditions, and strict regulatory standards.”
Indeed, this house was built from the ground up, relying heavily on a single 3DCP. Onocom notes (machine translation) that 3D printed buildings have typically been limited to small-scale or single-story structures. The successful fabrication of a fully seismic-compliant dwelling of two stories makes it even more notable. ‘Multifunctional wall’ segments, “molded in one step to create a three-layer structure that integrates design, structural frame, and facility space,” are said to drastically reduce on-site post-processing.
Other touted benefits of the 3DCP process used to build this cave-inspired home in Kurihara City are: the elimination of construction formwork, reduction of cost and CO2 from parts transport, design freedom, stable quality control, the ability to print continuous foundations for strength, and a boost in speed of construction.
Last but not least, the project also confirmed the tolerance of 3DCP to variable weather and temperature conditions. COBOD says that the initial formwork for the house was printed at temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F), requiring heated mixing water to maintain printability. In contrast, the main house structure was completed in summer at a rather toasty 30–35 °C (86–95 °F). High environmental temperatures “shortened bucket life and required careful process control,” but these hurdles didn’t interrupt or impair the 3D printer-driven building process.
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