A 3D printed house just went up in the middle of winter and in a day’s time in Stupino, a small town in western Russia.

The Stupino house was printed entirely on-site by a company called Apis Cor. They used a crane-sized, mobile 3D printer and a specially-developed mortar mix and covered the whole operation with a heated tent.

 

Cutting Cost

Since software and machines are doing most of the work, there’s less margin for human error. According to the company, the house’s total building cost came to $10,134, or approximately $275 per square meter, which equates to about $25 per square foot. A recent estimate put the average cost of building a 2,000 square foot home in the US at about $150 per square foot.

In the US, tiny houses have been all the rage among millennials lately—what if that tiny house could be custom-printed to your specifications in less than a week, and it cost even less than you’d budgeted?

Future Homes?

So does this mean 3d printing house will be popping up everywhere? Most likely no, its is much easier to erect a 3d printed home in the middle of nowhere Russia but very unlikely in downtown Miami.

However Cities like Dubai are aiming to build more 3D printed houses, in what many have envisioned for the homes of the future are environmentally-friendly, data-integrated ‘smart buildings,’ often clad with solar panels and including floors designated for growing food.

Large-scale 3D printing have some very practical applications. Take disaster relief: when a hurricane or earthquake destroys infrastructure and leaves thousands of people without shelter, 3D printers could be used to quickly rebuild bridges, roads, and homes.

Apis Cor’s states that part of their mission is “to change the construction industry so that millions of people will have an opportunity to improve their living conditions.”