3D Printed Pre-fab Housing Erected in Shanghai

With enough ingenuity, almost anything can be built using additive manufacturing (AM), including houses. Ever since 3D printing hit the consciousness of the mainstream, various inventors and organizations have been dreaming of 3D printing a house. Even NASA has investigated construction through additive manufacturing.

Now, it seems, Chinese company WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co has succeeded in using AM to erect pre-fab housing units in Shanghai. While this doesn’t represent a true effort at printing a house in situ, it is still a leap forward. All the pieces for the pre-fab units were built off-site using 3D printing. 

The result is a single room dwelling with a glass front to let in light. The building was made using recycled construction waste, industrial waste and tailings, which lowers cost significantly, with each unit priced at around $5000.

Each section of the units was constructed off-site using a large-scale 3D printer measuring 490 ft. long, 33 ft. wide, and 20 ft. deep. WinSun has plans to construct a number of new facilities to help produce these units at a large enough volume to provide a cheap housing option for poor or displaced families.

Even if you don’t want to call this 3D printed architecture (it is), WinSun was able to erect 10 of its sturdy, pre-fab units in Shanghai in one day. That kind of speed is exactly what is needed for emergency situations, such as following in the wake of a natural disaster. Further, though the finished units aren’t exactly luxurious, after the initial emergency has ended the units could be used for storage.

It’s also reasonable to consider the large number of homeless people around the world. Projects like this one could provide shelter for a fairly small investment, and even pre-fab concrete houses are an improvement to their current living conditions.

Below you’ll find videos about other methods of creating pre-fab homes using rapid manufacturing.

3D Print Canal House from 3D Print Canal House on Vimeo.

Sources: 3ders.org via Gizmodo