The demonstration project received €200,000 from North Rhine-Westphalia state, which has prioritised 3D printing as the way forward for house building. The building consists of triple-skin cavity walls filled with an insulating compound.
Peri is using the BOD2 printer, which is a gantry printer, allowing the print head to move along three axes supported by a frame.
How it works
Operated by two people, the BOD2 follows the house’s design, leaving gaps for pipes and services. Manual work, such as pipe installation, can proceed while it is printing, according to Peri. A camera monitors the print head and the cementitious layers as they are extruded. Peri says that with a linear print speed of a meter a second, the BOD2 is the fastest printer on the market. It can print a square metre of double-skin wall in five minutes.
Video of the operation can be viewed here.
“3D construction printing fundamentally changes the way we build and the process of residential construction” said Leonhard Braig, the company’s production and supply chain director, adding that the Beckum house was good practice and that costs would come down with more experience.
