Researchers at the University of Nantes are responsible for the project, which was built using a robot 3D printer, known as ‘BatiPrint3D,’ in just 18 days before its hollow walls were filled with cement.
The robot uses a special polymer material that should insulate the 95-square-meter (1000-square-foot), five-room house for a century.
The Y-shaped home will be allocated to a local family that qualifies for social housing. The building is equipped with multiple high-tech features designed to cut energy costs, including sensors that monitor air quality, humidity and temperature, as well as equipment to analyze the home’s thermal properties.
Further 3D-printed building projects are underway in the city of Nantes, including a housing estate and a public reception building.
The recent advances in 3D printing have also evolved beyond real estate. Expectant parents can now print a life-sized model of their unborn children, and engineers have even developed a 3D-printed shape-shifting smart gel that could pave the way for a new era of soft robotics.