COBOD, a 3D printing company based in Denmark, has created Guatemala's first 3D-printed building — and even better, the prototype house is designed to be earthquake-resistant.
The appeal of 3D-printing houses is simple: It can be done more quickly and with less human labor than any other construction method. As detailed by New Atlas, cement company Progreso partnered with COBOD to make the project happen. The Guatemala house, a one-floor, 527-square-foot dwelling, was completed in just 26 hours, divided over seven days.
Cement company Progreso partnered with COBOD to make the project happen.
COBOD's BOD2 printer was able to follow a pre-planned blueprint to extrude layers of a cement-like mixture to form the house's shell. From there, human builders installed windows, wiring, plumbing, and the house's traditional Guatemalan roof made from palm thatching.
The earthquake-resistant elements of the house's design appear to be the curved walls and flexible, lightweight roof. COBOD explained that the curved walls in particular would have been very difficult to achieve without 3D printing (much less in just 26 hours).
"Due to the use of 3D printing, the house features highly organic-shaped walls that would otherwise be extremely expensive, even unfeasible to complete with concrete blocks, the region's predominant building material," the company said in a press release published by New Atlas.
The ability to quickly and easily build houses that can withstand extreme weather could make a big difference in many people's lives, as such events are becoming increasingly common due to changing weather patterns driven by the overheating of our planet.
As of right now, COBOD is treating the Guatemala house as a simple prototype with no plans to create more, but that could change in the future.
"The COBOD rep told us that the project was created as a research tool and there's no immediate plans to create it on a larger scale," New Atlas reported.
COBOD is also responsible for a 3D-printed post office in India and Europe's first 3D-printed two-story house, according to the outlet.
Quickly erecting buildings isn't the only way that people have been using 3D printing to help the planet, either. Other companies are using 3D printing to repurpose used coffee grounds into household items, create artificial limbs, create animal teeth to deter poachers, and even build structures for space exploration.
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