The pace of development of construction of 3D printed concrete buildings has surprised many people in the industry not only for the range of shapes which has been remarkable enough but also the variety of function. Added to the rapid increase in popularity of polished concrete, it seems that 3D printed concrete has led to many architects have fallen in love with concrete for the first time.

Here are a few examples from Western Europe, the Middle East and the USA.

Netherlands

The video below is a little slow to get going so a little fast-forwarding is recommended.

Belgium

This eight meters tall house was printed was built on-site by the largest 3D concrete printer in Europe. Comprising of two floors, with a 90-square-meters floor, this 3D concrete printed house is low-energy featuring floor and ceiling heating, a heat pump, and special solar panels with plans to add a green roof.

Jordan

The design team MEAN (Middle East Architecture Network) has envisioned an innovative use of 3D printed panels by deploying them onto a CNC bent steel pipe system. To simulate a holistic tent-like structure, the team used a hybrid of 3D printed polymer shells on 3D printed concrete topography with the ‘Mesh Relaxation’ parametric strategy.

USA

Developer 3Strands and construction technology company ICON have built four 3D-printed houses in Austin, Texas, from concrete that’s designed to cope with extreme weather.

Named East 17th Street Residences, the houses are made from ICON‘s Portland cement-based material Lavacrete.

According to the company, ICON’s proven 3D-printing technology provides safer, more resilient homes that are designed to withstand fire, flood, wind and other natural disasters better than conventionally built homes.

In 2019, ICON produced seven houses at Community First! Village in Austin to provide for those who were formerly homeless. The houses were unharmed during Texas’ particularly harsh storms at the start of this year.