PERI is building Germany's first 3D-printed residential building in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The two-storey detached house with approximately 80 square metres of living space per floor is being constructed almost entirely by a 3D construction printer.
This construction technique, which is being put into practice in Germany for the first time, has gone through all regulatory approval processes.
The federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is supporting the 3D construction printing project in Beckum as part of its "Innovatives Bauen" (innovative construction) development scheme.
"North Rhine-Westphalia innovation for Germany: digital, dynamic, ready to print - these are our keywords for the future of construction. We are proud that the first house to be 3D printed is being built in our federal state. This makes North Rhine-Westphalia a pioneer for Germany. Not tomorrow, not some day, but today. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is providing specific support for investments in the innovation engine of construction: the 3D house is being subsidized with 200,000 euros. Further projects are in the printing loop," explains Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Gender Equality.
"3D construction printing fundamentally changes the way we build and the process of residential construction. As this is the first building of its kind, we are making a point of printing at a slower rate than what is actually possible," says Leonhard Braig, Production & Supply Chain Director at PERI. "We want to take the opportunity to gain further experience in day-to-day operations as this will help us to leverage the cost reduction potential of our technology to a greater extent in the next printing project."
Printing technology and materials
PERI uses 3D printers of type BOD2 for printing. This printing technology comes from the Danish manufacturer COBOD, which PERI acquired a stake of back in 2018. The BOD2 printer used in Beckum is a gantry printer, which means the printer can move along its frame to any position within the construction space and only needs to be calibrated once.
The building consists of triple-skin cavity walls, which are filled with an insulating compound. During the printing process, the printer takes into account the pipes and connections for water, electricity, etc. that are to be laid at a later time. The BOD2 has been certified in such a way that it is possible to carry out work within the printing area while printing is in progress. This means that manual work, such as the installation of empty pipes and connections, can be easily integrated into the printing process.
Only two operators are required to run the printer. The print head and the print results are monitored by a camera. With a speed of 1 m/s, the BOD2 is currently the fastest 3D construction printer available on the market. The BOD2 only takes around 5 minutes to complete 1m² of a double-skin wall.
