Feb 1, 2017 | By Tess
Students in France could soon find themselves living in accommodation that has been 3D printed. According to a French news source, the University of Rouen’s Mont-Saint-Aignan campus will soon be the site of 3D printed student housing. The project is being realized through a collaboration between French social landlord organization Habitat 76 and CROUS (Centre régional des œuvres universitaires et scolaires or the Regional Center for University and School Works).
According to Sébastien Metayer, director of sustainable development at Habitat 76, the 3D printed student housing project is the first of its kind in France, and quite possibly a first in Europe. The project, which has been underway for a year, is seeking to make 3D printed studios a reality on the Mont-Saint-Aignan campus near Rouen and have them in use by as soon as 2018.
Not only will the housing’s external structure be 3D printed, but CROUS and Habitat 76 are also planning on 3D printing the furniture, including desks, beds, and even showers. According to Habitat 76, the studios they plan to make could feasibly constructed in as little as two days.
Of course, the developers will not use just any 3D printer to make the houses, as they’ve enlisted the help of French large-scale 3D printing startup X-Treee. The startup has been working on developing a special 3D printer robot and a custom 3D printable concrete material that can create adequate housing structures.
In September, X-Treee successfully demonstrated its novel 3D printing process with a three-meter-tall pavilion, and now the startup is aiming to have an entire studio 3D printed by June of this year. The studio is also expected to include other necessary living features, such as water pipes and electrical cables. Extensive testing will, of course, be necessary.
Metayer has even suggested that if all goes well with the 3D printed studio endeavor (which is supposed to break ground late 2017/early 2018) there is the potential to create larger structures. He said, “If we can show that is it possible to build a studio, we can then create three, four, five rooms, maybe even a building!”
3D printed X-Treee Pavilion
He also added what seems to be a necessary disclosure when it comes to automated 3D printing technologies: that the machine will not steal human jobs. He says, “If the printer does the heavy work, we will always need electricians, plumbers, and painters…”
For now, the cost of 3D printing a structure out of concrete is still quite expensive, not to mention experimental, but Metayer and his team are confident that as the technology becomes more standard and widespread, the cost of 3D printing buildings and rooms will drop significantly.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Just lovely the 3D way the world is going , looking to be a good game plan .
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