First 3D printed multi-storey home in North America completes

After 80 hours of printing concrete, Ontario-based Nidus3D has finished a two-storey 3D printed home in a test of how technology could speed up construction and ease a shortage in trade skills.

The home, Nidus3D’s second, is a 2,300 sq ft space with a studio on the ground floor and residence above.

Using a COBOD BOD2 printer, the company cut construction time by more than half from its first 3D printed home, which took 200 hours to build.

Another innovation, it said, was 3D printing a horizontal beam on site and lifting into place by a crane.

Although there are other 3D printed homes in the US and Canada, these have either been one-storey houses or included a second non-3D printed storey.

In Europe, a company called Kamp C built the continent’s first two-storey 3D printed house in July 2020. Created entirely on site, the building in Westerlo, Belgium also used a BOD2 printer.

‘Critical shortage’

Ian Arthur, one of the founders of Nidus3D, said: “We have critical shortfall of skilled labourers, and a massive and growing demand for housing all across Canada.

“So, if we do not begin to look at new ways of building, we’re never going to catch up. It is part of our core values, to seek solutions to address the housing crisis and to help build affordable housing with the help of 3D printing”.

Philip Lund-Nielsen, co-founder and head of Americas at COBOD International, said: “Our technology and 3D construction printers enable faster execution of construction projects, as well as more efficient construction at lower cost due to the lower labour requirements and usage of low-cost concrete.

“COBOD’s 3D construction printers have been used all over the world, and while this two-storey building in real concrete is a first and a great success for us in North America, the worldwide success of our technology proves the wide scale applicability of our technology.”