A House 3D Printed in 58 Hours Is Donated to Soldier in Ukraine

3D printing has once again proved its worth in the construction sector: Ukrainian start-up UTU, a manufacturer of 3D printers for houses, has just completed the manufacturing of a home in the town of Irpin, west of Kiev. This is a first for this township, which has been severely scarred by war. It has been donated to the family of a Ukrainian soldier, Yaroslav Berezov, who died in combat. They have already moved into the 130-square-meter structure, which took 58 hours to print.

Startup UTU is determined to make its mark on the construction market. It has developed a 3D concrete printer equipped with a robotic arm that offers a printing volume of 220 square meters round, or 140 square meters for a square structure – this is a perimeter that can be reached without moving the machine. As you can see, UTU’s aim is to offer comfortable housing thanks to a machine that can be transported and set up quickly on site. According to the manufacturer, it takes just 2–3 hours to set up the 3D printer and get it up and running.

3D printer deposits successive layers of concrete to build walls

Turning to the house built in Irpin, the startup claims that it was completed in just 58 hours using 72 tonnes of material. It’s not clear exactly which material was used, but if the UTU website is to be believed, the teams worked with a bespoke concrete made from a mortar developed by Henkel that produces a uniform, consistent concrete. The manufacturer adds, “The specially designed mortar is prepared directly in the printer, which therefore needs no additional equipment, saving money on its purchase and operation.”