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The University of New South Wales (UNSW) breaks new ground with a new Melbourne home set to hit printers by the end of summer.
Sustainable, fast and labour-efficient, 3D printing has garnered significant attention in recent years for its capacity to revolutionise the construction world.
Australian 3D printing firm Luyten 3D has joined forces with the UNSW’s globally recognised Arch_Manu research group to create the first 3D printed home in the Southern Hemisphere.
The home will be printed from a specialist concrete mix with the help of AI-powered 3D printers.
Professor Matthias Hank Haeusler, director of Arch_Manu at UNSW, prophesied that the project “will change Australian housing”.
“This will be a lighthouse project for 3D printing in Australia, encompassing state-of-the-art research in design and technology and bringing research findings into practice,” Professor Haeusler said.
When the project is finalised, Luyten 3D founder and CEO Dr Ahmed Mahil hopes it will prove that 3D printing is the “next frontier in sustainable and affordable housing”.
“The design not only demonstrates the versatility and flexibility of 3D printing capability; it also captures the stunning architectural advantages of computational design and architectural manufacturing technology and the ability to create extraordinary spaces for a fraction of the cost,” said Dr Mahil.
He hopes that the project will provide tangible proof of the design and project management advantages of 3D printed homes, and revealed that he plans to eventually use data from the project to “lead and inform the development of new building standards in Australia for incorporation into Australia’s National Construction Code.”
Luyten 3D was only launched three years ago, but according to Dr Mahil, the company is already experiencing a global reach.
Luyten 3D claims that its 3D printing technology enables builders to cut back construction times by 70 per cent, from a time frame of months or years to a matter of days.
“The technology is proven to increase construction site efficiency with 60 per cent guaranteed costs savings, 300 to 500 times shorter execution times, and an 80 per cent total reduction in monetary expenses without formwork in concrete construction,” said Dr Mahil.
He also revealed that the company’s proprietary concrete mix, Ultimacrete, uses 40 per cent less carbon emissions than traditional concrete, while the robotic systems reduce carbon footprints for site labour and logistics by 50 per cent to 70 per cent.
“The world has never seen capabilities like this before,” the CEO concluded.
