This 3D-printed residential house cost just $10,000

The first ever 3D-printed residential home was built on-site in just 24 hours in the town of Stupino, near Moscow in Russia last December. Having a cylindrical shape and consisting of a hallway, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen, this 38 m² (406 ft²) house had a total cost of $10,134, or $267 per m². Apis Cor., the Russian company that constructed it, claims that it can last up to 175 years and that a simpler house (ex. a square one) could cost only $223 per m² ($68 per ft²).

The construction method

It was the first time in Russian construction practice that a house was printed as a whole on-site, rather than assembled from panels that were pre-printed off-site. ?fter completing the walls, the machinery used was removed with a crane manipulator, so that workers could proceed with fixing the internal plumbing, windows and doors, roof and exterior painting and other interior fittings. According to the construction company, the 3D printing method cuts up to 70% of the costs compared to traditional methods.

Worth mentioning is the fact that the house was built in the middle of the winter, in very low temperatures, making the project more complex as the use of concrete mixture is only possible at temperatures above 5° C. The problem was addressed by setting up a tent which provided the required temperature.

The company behind the project

Apis Cor., a Russia and San Francisco-based company, uses a mobile printer to build their homes on-site. Using this technique and by offering quick and affordable construction methods under high-quality standards, they aim to help financially disadvantaged people around the world improve their living conditions. In the company’s website, the inventor and founder Nikita Chen-yun-tai states that hopefully ‘building a house will be as easy as pressing a "like" button" in the future’ and that they are ready to be first to start building even on Mars.

Cost break down

The total cost of $10,134 includes all work and materials for the construction of the building’s foundation, roof, exterior and interior finishing works and the installation of heat-insulation in walls, windows, floors and ceilings. Here is the break-down: