The architects of Emerging Objects have devised a scheme for a 3D printed house made from locally harvested salt and concrete. Known as the “3D Printed House 1.0,” the case study residence was commissioned by the Jin Hai Lake Resort Beijing. It integrates traditional construction methods with renewable 3D printed materials, manufactured by Emerging Objects, to build a house that is sustainable, structurally sound and beautiful.
Major structural components of 3D Printed House 1.0 are constructed of cast-in-place concrete and plastered white. Enveloping the house is an exterior cladding made from a special 3D printed fiber reinforced cement polymer developed by Emerging Objects utilizing their Picoroco Block, a modular 3D printed building block printed from sand.
The facade’s pore-like exterior is supported by an underlying geometry of interconnected pentagons, hexagons and quadrilateral shapes whose terminus is a circle. Each protruding oculus ranges in size, depending on the amount of light, views and privacy desired for that particular area of the house.
Puncturing the “concrete box” is a series of double-height, 3D-printable interior “salt volumes” made from a salt polymer based on “Saltygloo.” The semi-transparent components illuminate the interior and define the home’s layout, forming the most intimate spaces - bedrooms, bathrooms and family dining room.
Architects
Location
Beijing, Beijing, ChinaDesign Team
(Rael San Fratello / Emerging Objects) Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Eleftheria Stavridi, Seong Koo LeeClient
Jinhai Lake DevelopmentProject Year
2013Photographs
Location
Beijing, Beijing, ChinaProject Year
2013Photographs
