4um: 3D-printed house built in just three hours in China's Xi'an

This villa was erected from six modules in just three hours. It is claimed to be able to withstand earthquakes.

This villa was erected from six modules in just three hours. It is claimed to be able to withstand earthquakes. Photo: cnwest via Sina English

The individual modules of a dining room, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms were assembled by Chinese developer Zhuoda Group on a site in Xi'an earlier this month.

Sina English reports most of the building, comprising six modules, was produced in a factory ahead of time and then put together with several workers and a crane. The modules were produced in a factory and then assembled on site.

Each module weighs more than 100 kilograms and the cost of the materials ranged from 2500 yuan to 3500 yuan ($551 to $770) a square metre.

According to An Yongliang, a developing engineer of Zhuoda Group, their method significantly reduced the typical timeframe to build a traditional villa; from half-a-year to a mere 10 days from production to installation.

Despite its speedy construction, the engineer claims the building can withstand earthquakes because each module bears its own weight. The public were invited to inspect the interior of the newly-built, 3D-printed house.

The steel-framed structure could also be filled with heat-insulating materials to keep the home warm in winter.

After completion, the public were welcomed into the house to tour the modern interior, complete with furnishings and utilities.

Though the villa has taken 3D printing to yet another level, it's one among many impressive buildings that have been constructed with the technology in recent years.

In January, the WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co built a five-storey apartment block in China's Suzhou Industrial Park.

This villa was erected from six modules in just three hours. It is claimed
to be able to withstand earthquakes.

This villa was erected from six modules in just three hours. It is claimed to be able to withstand earthquakes. Photo: cnwest via Sina English

A 3D-printed house has been built in just three hours in one of China's capital cities.

The individual modules of a dining room, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms were assembled by Chinese developer Zhuoda Group on a site in Xi'an earlier this month.

Sina English reports most of the building, comprising six modules, was produced in a factory ahead of time and then put together with several workers and a crane.

The modules were produced in a factory and then assembled on site.

The modules were produced in a factory and then assembled on site. Photo: cnwest via Sina English

Each module weighs more than 100 kilograms and the cost of the materials ranged from 2500 yuan to 3500 yuan ($551 to $770) a square metre.

Despite its speedy construction, the engineer claims the building can withstand earthquakes because each module bears its own weight.

The public were invited to inspect the interior of the newly-built,
3D-printed house.

The public were invited to inspect the interior of the newly-built, 3D-printed house. Photo: 3ders.org

The steel-framed structure could also be filled with heat-insulating materials to keep the home warm in winter.

After completion, the public were welcomed into the house to tour the modern interior, complete with furnishings and utilities.

Though the villa has taken 3D printing to yet another level, it's one among many impressive buildings that have been constructed with the technology in recent years.

In January, the WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co built a five-storey apartment block in China's Suzhou Industrial Park.

U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY

Neato! $551 to $770 per square meter, that's $71 per sq ft tops or 102-142k for a 200sf house. Hope they'll join 4um and bring us a video of the first occupants' first year in it.

The 3D printing concept was originally created to manufacture replacement parts for spacecraft on space missions. The idea being that you can't travel a million miles to fix the toilet.

This could be the wave of the future, if the plastic technology and products are considered durable and affordable enough. Note that there is still steel in the frame, and it still requires weather insulation.

But the time advantage is truly revolutionary. Hanging a picture on the wall will be interesting.

U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY

In 10 years they'll be printing them some steel framing and some nice fluffy or foamy insulation :-)

Chinese company Zhouda builds modular house made from "mysterious materials" in three hours

There are a lot of people who still say that they don't innovate in China, but when it comes to construction technology they really are putting a lot of other countries to shame. Here is another player: The Zhouda Group, with its Chinese launch of what everyone is calling a "mysterious" 3D printed modular house. There really isn't a lot of information about it, other than this model home was assembled in three hours. There also isn't much evidence to indicate that they are in fact 3D printed at all; Watching the video here just shows them being made of some very strong panel that they throw bags of sand at. (It starts after about six commercials).

It appears to be a steel framed module with an infill wall panel made from a magical material:

...sourced from industrial and agricultural wastes and are capable of withstanding earthquakes with a magnitude of 9.0 and are also fireproof and waterproof. This new material contains no formaldehyde, ammonia, radon and other harmful substances. While the company is touting their materials as being capable of withstanding the elements, they are also saying that the material can be made to meet a variety of aesthetic qualities desired by the homeowner including jade, marble, wood, granite and other decorative sheet textures. Adventurous health-conscious home owners even have the option to have Chinese herbs embedded within the walls for ‘built-in aromatherapy’.

A Google patent search shows up a couple of Zhuoda patents related to prefabricated housing, but they are from 2008 and so not appear to be the same thing, or the google translation is so poor that I am not understanding it properly.

Zhouda via 3Ders/ aligning modules during a set. There appear to be pins to help./Screen capture

The modules weigh 100 kg per m2 (20.43 lbs/SF) and cost 3,500 RMB/square meter (US$ 52.39 PSF) which makes them light and cheap. The company expects to have the capacity to churn out two billion square meters of housing per year by 2016. That works out to roughly twelve million 1800 square foot houses. Given that these look to be roughly the size of shipping containers, that works out to 134.5 million TEU of housing modules. If these are in fact container sized, then they can be shipped economically to just about anywhere.

Unless there is a typo in the source, that is a serious amount of housing. The company has been around since 1993 and is no slouch in the real estate development business.

Fortunately the furnishings are not part of the prefab package. More photos on 3Ders.org And here is a Russian video uploaded by Zhuoda that's more tastefully decorated.

And if you speak Russian, a tour of the model home they built there for a show in April.

House built from shipping containers designed in Denmark, assembled in China Broad Sustainable Building completes world's tallest prefab, 57 stories A closer look at Broad's Hotels that were built in days, not months

The plot thickens. I guess as 3D tech grows you'll be seeing some humongous printers that can make big panels and things -- and working hellish fast. Or is this house just a mirage where 3D printing is concerned?

Pretty ingenious, but the home owner won't be able to do much 'remodeling' on plastic walls filled with compressed sand.

With two billion people and counting, there has to be a way of putting a roof over their heads (a billion roofs), and this appears to be a good and affordable start. Looks like the structures will be very durable and hold over the years well also, depending on the grade of plastic used. If it is PVC quality, it will last many decades exposed to the elements even.

U.S. Constitution - Article IV, Section 4: NO BORDERS + NO LAWS = NO COUNTRY