Student housing will be 3D printed in Europe in 2024: photos

• Construction on a group of 36 3D-printed student homes is scheduled to begin in 2024 in Denmark.
• The companies behind this project say it will be the largest 3D-printed construction project in Europe.
• The designs show bright, airy homes made of materials such as concrete and wood.

Some students in Holstebro, Denmark can soon say goodbye to regular dorms and hello 3D printed houses.

In 2024, 3DCP group Design firm SAGA Space Architects says it will build a non-profit student housing community with the help of a 3D printer. If you’re familiar with specialty construction technology, 3DCP Group should sound familiar: The company has been prolific in the growing industry with recent projects like a 400-square-foot home completed in five weeks and its first home in Guatemala. 3D printed tiny house. SAGA Space Architects also helped design both projects.

The building plot, currently an unused patch of ancient trees, is located near VIA College’s Holstebro Campus. When this project is completed, 3DCP Group and SAGA Space Architects say this space – formerly an industrial meat packing site – will be transformed into 36 homes and the largest 3D printing project in Europe.

When completed, the Skovsporit community will consist of six buildings each with six apartments ranging in size from approximately 420 square feet to 540 square feet, according to the SAGA and 3DCP plan. Regardless of size, everyone should have space for the kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, bathroom, and living room.

Most mass market construction 3D printers only extrude concrete. But since the companies only plan to print the walls, the designs do not make these apartments look dark and dull. Instead, materials such as timber framing and acoustic ceilings will be used to brighten and complete the remaining structure.

Outside, the plan aims to surround student homes with plants, parking spaces for bicycles and electric vehicles, walking paths and social spaces in the form of courtyards. In order to preserve 95% of the trees on site, most of the printing will take place between these factories, according to the companies.

The project’s developer, the nonprofit NordvestBo, will select future tenants from a pool of applications “assuming there will be a ‘first come, first served’ aspect,” Sebastian Aristotel, co-founder of SAGA Space Architects, told Insider in an email.

Aristotles says the plan is to develop the site throughout 2024, with the aim of completing it by the end of the year. He could not detail the cost of the project but said the team would have to follow the Danish government’s budget for social housing “on the basis of square meters and some other criteria.”

Using 3D printers on construction sites is more than just an attention-grabbing way to build homes. Like Aristotle, proponents of 3D printing believe the technology can build unique, high-quality homes while saving time, waste and money.

Philip Lund Nielsen, co-founder of popular 3D printer maker COBOD, previously told Insider that the cost of using 3D printers is currently generally on par with or incrementally more expensive than traditional home building methods. But as more startups and real estate developers continue to turn to printers, this building technology may become cheaper.