3D printed houses and buildings are becoming increasingly viable and gaining a lot of attention, but the equipment is still expensive. However, much like the origins of desktop 3D printing, new open-source designs could help change that.
Philibert Le Gonidec de Kerhalic, as part of France’s De Vinci Innovation Center’s Resilient Futures Group, a research group focused on sustainable innovation, was researching traditional methods of construction using raw earth bricks. The work led to the development of an open-source bio-cementitious 3D printer he dubbed House3D: a low-cost raw earth structural 3D printer.
“[Raw earth] offers superior thermal insulation and inertia compared to concrete, while also being a local, bio-based, and biodegradable option,” Kerhalic told All3DP. “However, like any brick, it comes with design limitations. That’s why I wanted to bring my passion for 3D printing to the next level and 3D print raw earth.”
From the system’s unique raw earth extruder to a PrusaSlicer profile, Kerhalic has released all the necessary files for ambitious makers to create their own House3D printer. The designer has even released detailed texts about the extruder and raw earth material: a mixture of clay, sand, rice straw, and water.
The early results are promising, and featured in a De Vinci Innovation Center YouTube video showcasing the project.
Though Kerhalic notes that working at this scale, with 10-to-30-mm nozzles, doesn’t require high precision, he says House3D achieved an impressive 0.3-mm accuracy – far exceeding his prototype’s 1 mm tolerance goal.
The rising cost of contemporary construction and resulting shortages in housing supply have prompted countries like Canada to include 3D printing construction in plans to reduce strain on the market.
Open-source designs like Kerhalic’s could go a long way toward rapidly innovating this new construction method. But, importantly, the device doesn’t have to be limited to use for construction. Kerhalic specifically highlights furniture as a secondary application for bio-cementitious 3D printing, but it could easily be used to create a variety of on-site installations.
Though Kerhalic has moved on to another project, he says that he recently trained a student to continue improving House3D and plans to manage their contributions. The team’s plans include improving extruder flow and consistency by using a pump-based design, improving mechanical parts such as the X- and Y-tensioners and reducing the number of X- and Y-axis wheels, and optimizing the printing area before finally printing something “BIG”: specifically, a wall (once they’ve found “a spot where it can be useful”).
For those who would like to build their own House3D, Kerhalic has uploaded CAD files, schematics, a BOM, and a PrusaSlicer profile to the House3D GitHub. But beyond that, there are a few things to keep in mind:
“To build House3D, a lot of patience and care is required”, Kerhalic says. “Working on a large scale is nothing like assembling a printer on a desk. [You’ll need] room to build it, machinery (a 3D printer and a CNC), tools and a lot of screws. Don’t forget the money: it is cheap for its scale but still, it requires approximately 4.5K€ investment.”
Be sure to visit All3DP’s Pro section for more on architectural 3D printing and 3D printing in architecture.
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License: The text of "You Can Build This Open-Source House 3D Printer" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.