In recent years we have seen many high rises come down, quicker than
it took them to go up. We have seen residents having to vacate their
homes due to structural issues that have deemed their units unsafe to
live in. We can remember the evacuation of Sydney Olympic Park’s
Opal Tower on Christmas Eve, the Mascot Towers on Bourke Street and
thirty loft-style apartments at 19 Gadigal Avenue in Zetland, in Sydney’s
south-west, as it was found to have extensive and sever water damage
issues. The idea is, that new build constructions should come risk free,
of such issues, but time and time again we are seeing, buildings riddle
with water damage and structural repair concerns, that have deemed
them unsafe to live in. According to Mozo Australia “…most apartment
and house owners who purchased a new property in the past 10 years
have experienced building defects. Internal water leaks, cracking to
internal or external structures, water penetration from the outside,
guttering faults, tiling problems and defective plumbing were the most
common problems for owners.”

With the rising demand for better built buildings, firms across the globe
are considering new technology to help address current issues that we
as, consumers face when building or buying a new home. The
technology of 3D-printing is not something new, however its
advancements in the construction industry are well worth taking note
of. Additive manufacturing as it is also known, is a way of building
three-dimensional objects from a material that is gradually added layer
by layer. The printer reads from the software that has been inputted,
into it, in this case the software is drafted floor planes and once read it
then begins to print it out.

A formwork and scaffolding company in Beckum Germany named Peri,
is the first to have 3D printed a double story family home, that is
building certified. Using BOD two, the name of their 3D printer, the
material that was used with the printer is concrete. The printer only
needs two people to over see its operation and takes just under forty
eight hours to set up. When the machine is in operation it can print, a
meter per second. Instead of waiting a full year to get into your brand
new home, the home would only take a couple of months, to construct.
The house below, worked in coordination with architectural plans and
numerous building trades. The plumbing and electrical outlets came
integrated into the construction of the house. Therefore, the margin for
error on site was completely non existent, saving on building materials
and trade mens time, taken to execute these jobs.

From Germany to the land down under, yes Australia. Mirreco, a Perth
based Australian company has plans to begin production on 3D-printed
hemp homes. What is hemp you may ask? Hempcrete is a building
material that has been used for decades in Europe. It's a basic mixture
of lime, hemp & water. Unlike concrete or masonry, hempcrete does not
crack severely under movement. The benefits of this product seems to
be endless, to name a few, naturally termite, pest and mould resistant,
solid mass construction, giving good airtightness, providing superior
thermal performance as well as being fire resistant, and I could go on.

Mirreco will have the capabilities to build these residential homes in a
matter of weeks instead of months, using 3D print technology. The
material itself is well suited to the Australian climate, as its benefits far
outweigh the traditional use of bricks, steel and wood, to construct the
homes people live in today. A change is on the cards, as the need for
better built structures, that everyone can afford, sounds like an idea
many people will get behind.

There is a flurry, or an avalanche of ideas that are steaming ahead, from
concert and hemp 3D printed homes, one can see the snow ball of
green powered buildings, rolling down the mountain, as it begins to
gather momentum, within the ever illusive construction industry. It is
now only a question of when, not if, we will see the transformative
power of this technology being used in more larger structures, like high
rise buildings. Perhaps sometime soon the homes we live in, will carry a
longer used by date and a lower built price point, then the current
standard offered today