Saint-Gobain recently handed over the keys to the first residents in Eindhoven – the Netherlands – of the first house made entirely of 3D-printed concrete.The world leader in the habitat and construction company,through its Dutch branch Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix has developed special high-tech mortars for use in 3D printing and elaborated the printing technology with Witteveen + Bos, a consulting and engineering company. Other partners in this project are the construction company Van Wijnen, the institutional investor Vesteda, the Eindhoven University of Technology and the municipality of Eindhoven.
āSaint-Gobain 3D printing enables more efficient and sustainable construction. These printed houses use less material, and can be built much faster, with more flexibility and customised and renewed designs. The acceleration of this technology opens up new possibilities for construction,” explains Bas Huysmans, CEO of Weber Benelux.
The large boulder shape of the house nicely demonstrates the freedom of form that is offered by 3D concrete printing. The 94 square metersā house consists of 24 printed concrete elements, which are printed layer by layer in the printing plant in Eindhoven. The elements were transported by truck to the building site and placed on a foundation. The house was then provided with a roof and frames, and the finishing touches applied. Thanks to the performant insulation, the house is very energy efficient and provides greater comfort for its occupants.
This house is part of a program of five houses that will be built one after the other, so that each new construction can be optimized by learning from the previous ones.Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and solutions for the construction, mobility, healthcare and other industrial application markets. Developed through a continuous innovation process, they can be found everywhere in our living places and daily life, providing wellbeing, performance and safety, while addressing the challenges of sustainable construction, resource efficiency and the fight against climate change.
This strategy of responsible growth is guided by the Saint-Gobain purpose, āMAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOMEā, which responds to the shared ambition of all the women and men in the Group to act every day to make the world a more beautiful and sustainable place to live in.
