French construction giant Bouygues has announced that it is to build France’s first social housing unit using 3D printing later this year.
If all goes according to plan, the YHNOVA house, as it will be called, will be built in the northwestern city Nantes in September for social housing provider Nantes Métropole Habitat. It will have 95 sq m, five rooms and a distinctive curved floorplan.
The house will be constructed by Batiprint3D, a manufacturing robot patented by the University of Nantes. This is able to deposit three layers of material to form the structure. Two are made from expanding foam, which act as formwork for the third layer, which is concrete. Once the concrete has cured, the foam remains in place, serving as a double layer of insulation.
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