German Innovation Award Goes To First 3D-Printed House

The first residential house in Germany to be built with a 3D concrete printer has won the German Innovation Award from the German Design Council. The two-storey single-family home in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia, with around 160 m² of living space consists of multi-layered walls filled with insulating material or ready-mixed concrete.

After the innovative property had been designed by the engineers and architects at Mense-Korte ingenieure+architekten, the printing was carried out with a PERI concrete printer installed at the construction site. The printing material used was “i.tech 3D” printing mortar from HeidelbergCement. The project was supervised by experts from the Technical University of Munich and engineers from Schießl Gehlen Sodeikat. “With this production process, houses can be built faster, more economically and more sustainably. It also allows a highly individual design of living spaces,”  stated the jury. With the award, the German Design Council recognises projects that advance their industry through originality, application and effectiveness.

Dr Jennifer Scheydt, Head of Engineering & Innovation at HeidelbergCement Germany, said: “The printing of the residential house in Beckum is a milestone for 3D concrete printing technology. As a strong and innovative partner in this project, we have helped to adapt the traditional building material concrete to the possibilities offered by 3D printing, namely application areas of all sizes and shapes. We are convinced that this new type of construction will become an established standard in the years to come.” 

More information at: https://www.heidelbergcement.de/de/i.tech3D