Serendix50, the 3D Printed House That Costs Less Than a Car

The incessant inflation of housing prices is a matter of concern for millions of people. It is becoming increasingly expensive both to buy a house and to live in it, so that young and not so young people continue to live at home with their parents because they do not have enough money to become independent. Moreover, in Japan something similar is happening among the elderly. In recent years, the number of retired people with low incomes, who are unable to continue living in the big cities for lack of money, has been steadily increasing, prompting a need for many to retire to the countryside.

To solve these problems and many more, Serendix, a Japanese company, has decided to create 3D printed concrete houses with a surface area of 50m2, thus lowering costs enough to make one of these houses cheaper than a car. Masayuki Sono, the architect behind this marvel, won a competition organized by Nasa a few years ago to design a 3D printed home. Last year he launched Sphere, a futuristic 10m2 3D printed house that caused a sensation. We reported on it as well not just for the speed in which he made it but for its earthquake-proof properties, a must in the island nature. And now it has delivered once again with the Serendix50 (also known as Fujitsubo), which will soon be on the market.

The Serendix50 is made entirely of 3D printed material (photo credits: mikeshouts)

As you may remember, Serendix’s construction process is very fast, evening holding a world record for speed. In less than 45 hours Serendix is able to manufacture one of these houses with a single 3D printer. Many times one thinks that by doing things fast things go wrong, but that is not the case for the Serendix50, because despite its high construction speed it meets all the necessary requirements to be a legal house according to the very rigorous Japanese construction standards. The house is resistant to fire, water and earthquakes, has structural strength and good thermal insulation. A requirement for the Serendix50 to be built is that it must be manufactured outside the cities. As they are not stackable houses, they are rather designed for the outskirts of large cities or the countryside.