For a long time, 3D construction printing has been seen as a possible solution to the escalating affordable housing crisis. Proponents of the technology claim, that when 3D printing projects in construction are carried out at scale, the advantages of the technology become clear. Now, Kenya is emerging as a hub for this innovative approach to construction, with several projects demonstrating the potential of 3D-printed homes to address the country's housing shortage.
The Promise of 3D Printing in Construction
3D printing in the construction industry, also known as additive manufacturing, involves the layer-by-layer extrusion of building materials through massive robotic printers, using materials like concrete and earth-based composites. The accuracy, speed, and economy of 3D-printed buildings are its main selling points. Up to 80% less building waste can be produced by printing some structures in less than a day.
Advantages of 3D-Printed Homes
- Speed: Walls can be printed in as little as 12 hours.
- Cost-Efficiency: Aims to lower construction costs by 20% compared to standard houses.
- Sustainability: Reduces the environmental footprint of a house by more than 50% compared to conventional methods.
- Design Flexibility: Curved walls, organic shapes, and modular forms are easily achievable.
3D-printed housing initiatives are changing our perception of housing for the poor. In addition to showcasing the technical prowess of large-scale 3D printing, these case studies demonstrate how adaptable technology is to a variety of climatic, cultural, and economic contexts.
14Trees: Pioneering 3D-Printed Homes in Kenya
14Trees is a joint venture company between the cement and concrete giant Holcim and British International Investment dedicated to accelerating the provision of affordable housing in Africa. 14Trees pionneered in the introduction of Construction 3D printing in Africa. The joint venture is behind the first 3D printed houses in Africa and the first 3D printed schools in the world.
14 Trees, a joint venture between Holcim and CDC Group, announces Africa’s largest 3D-printed affordable housing project in Kenya - called Mvule Gardens. The project will be built in Kilifi in partnership with the Green Heart of Kenya Development, in early 2022.
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Colm Halley, General Manager 14 Trees Kenya: “We are excited to be building one of the world’s largest 3D-printed affordable housing projects in Kenya. The Government of Kenya have made huge efforts to accelerate the development of Affordable Housing in Kenya. 14Trees is committed to using innovative technology to support this, with houses that have a lower carbon footprint than traditional methods. project. Our vision is to show how development can have a positive impact on the environment and community around it.
This week 14Trees announced some of the initial results of their efforts to 3D print up to 52 houses in Kilifi, Kenya, using a single BOD2 printer from COBOD. The BOD2 is the world’s best-selling construction 3D printer. 14Trees intends to get the full benefit of the large-scale project by experimenting and innovating as the project progresses.
Mvule Gardens: A Model for Affordable Housing
The Kenyan town of Kilifi will soon be able to boast the world's largest 3D-printed affordable housing complex. The neighborhood, Mvule Gardens, will feature 52 homes with either two or three bedrooms. Each has a front porch and a private backyard.
Building on 14 Trees’ world-first 3D-printed developments in Malawi, the Mvule Gardens housing complex will offer 1 bed, 2 bed and 3 bed units starting at Ksh2.46m in a low density gated community project close to Kilifi Town.
Just outside the town of Kilifi on the Kenyan coast, approximately 70 kilometres north of Mombasa, stand 10 houses. These homes are the first phase of the 52-unit Mvule Gardens development, claiming to offer residents a family-friendly lifestyle in a peaceful neighbourhood. Yet, these are no ordinary homes.
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MASS Design Group, an American and African-based architecture practice, designed the Mvule Gardens to advance affordable, sustainable and replicable housing units adapted to Kenya’s environment.
Seddiq Hassani, the Managing Director of Bamburi Cement, which is also Holcim’s Kenya subsidiary: “As part of Bamburi’s commitment to supporting the Government of Kenya’s Big 4 Agenda on affordable housing, we are delighted to be supplying our innovative building materials for this truly ground-breaking project.
The Mvule Gardens in Kilifi, Kenya, is one of the largest 3D-printed affordable housing projects in the world. It is part of the Green Heart of Kenya regenerative ecosystem, a model for inclusive and climate-resilient cities. Its advanced sustainability profile won an IFC-EDGE Advanced sustainable design certification, which recognizes resource-efficient and zero-carbon buildings.
Green Heart of Kenya aims to support the creation of 50 sustainable businesses, 500 homes and 5,000 jobs by 2030.
From Oct. 2022 to Jan. The fastest time to print one house in the Mvule Gardens project was 18 hours. Using just one 3D printer, 14Trees can print the walls for a two-bedroom house in 18 hours, with three bedrooms taking an additional 10 hours.
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In addition, the project’s sustainability profile also attained an EDGE Advanced sustainable design certification by IFC, the World Bank’s development finance institution, which recognizes resource-efficient buildings with the potential to be zero-carbon.
14Trees is dedicated to addressing Africa’s shortage of affordable housing with 3D printing and smart design while creating skilled local jobs. As proven in Malawi, the technique can reduce the environmental footprint of a house by more than 50% compared to conventional methods, while the walls can be built at record speed in just 12 hours compared to almost four days with conventional building techniques.
Using Holcim’s proprietary 3D printing materials, TectorPrint, made at a local plant, has already meant a significant reduction in costs.
“With 3D printing, you can … build faster like we have shown here with our 10 houses in 10 weeks,” said Francois Perrot, 14Trees’ managing director.
Addressing the Housing Deficit
Kenya’s urban areas are home to a third of the country’s total population of more than 50 million. The government plans to build 250,000 houses each year, aimed at eventually closing a housing deficit that World Bank data puts at 2 million units.
Pricing for the 3D-printed homes starts at KES 3,610,000 (around USD 28,000). In February 2023, 14Trees announced that it had finished printing the first 10 houses in the community. Pricing for the 3D-printed houses starts at 3,610,000 KES (~$28,000) - for comparison, the average price of a 2-bedroom house in Kilifi is 4,900,000 KES (~$38,000).
The company’s homes, like many traditionally built ones, remain beyond the reach of most Kenyans. A two-bedroom house costs $22,000 and a three-bedroom one costs $29,000.
Financing remains a challenge. In June 2023, Kenya’s parliament passed a finance law with a new housing tax of 1.5% on gross income, to be used to build affordable housing. The law is being challenged in court. The housing tax is one of the issues causing discontent among young people who have organized a series of protests that included the extraordinary storming of parliament last Tuesday.
Located in Malawi, the world’s first 3D printed school was built using COBOD’s state-of-the-art BOD2 3D construction printer. 14Trees achieved tremendous results applying COBOD’s technology resulting in reduced cost, time, and materials compared to traditional methods. In October 2021, our customer 14Trees 3D printed a demonstration house in Nairobi, Kenya, which is also the first 3D printed house to achieve the IFC-EDGE Design Certificate. The walls of Africa’s first 3D printed home were printed in just 12 hours.
Commenting on the achievements, Francois Perrot, Managing Director of 14Trees said: “With 3D printing, you can solve two problems at once. You can build faster like we have shown here with our 10 houses in 10 weeks. At the same time, we can achieve better cost efficiency, which will help make affordable housing a reality for the majority.
With each phase, 14Trees is aiming at lowering construction costs further such that the build cost is 20% lower than standard houses.
COBOD: Driving Innovation in Construction 3D Printing
COBOD’s mission is to build smarter through multifunctional construction robots based on 3Dprinting technology and COBOD’s vision is to automate minimum 50% of construction processes on building sites. All leading to better, faster, cheaper and more sustainable construction than conventional concrete.
COBOD’s 3D printers made Europe’s first building in 2017. Subsequently our printers made the first 2- and 3-story buildings in Europe (Belgium & Germany), North America (US & Canada) and India.
Commenting on the performance of 14Trees in relation to the developments in the US, Philip Lund-Nielsen, Head of COBOD Americas stated: “Considering how difficult the conditions are in Africa, it is impressive, that 14Trees has printed more houses on a single site, than any other construction 3D printing company in the US or elsewhere.
COBOD is headquartered in Denmark with regional offices and competence centers in Florida and Malaysia.
14Trees is not the only company busy with construction 3D printing projects of multiple housing units. Especially in the US several large-scale have been announced, including a venture-backed US-based construction 3D printing company’s 100 houses project, which attracted global media coverage when they began printing in early November 2022 (announced 2021) at a site where 5 or more identical printers were used simultaneously. As of early February, three months after the printing began, reports show that less than 9 houses had been printed so far.
Holcim: Building a Sustainable Future
Holcim builds progress for people and the planet. As a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, Holcim is enabling greener cities, smarter infrastructure and improving living standards around the world. With sustainability at the core of its strategy Holcim is becoming a net zero company, with its people and communities at the heart of its success. The company is driving circular construction as a world leader in recycling to build more with less.
Holcim is the company behind some of the world’s most trusted brands in the building sector including ACC, Aggregate Industries, Ambuja Cement, Disensa, Firestone Building Products, Geocycle, Holcim, Lafarge and Malarkey Roofing Products.
Bamburi Cement PLC is a Lafarge company, which is a member of Holcim Group, and is the leading cement manufacturing and marketing company in the Eastern Africa region, having been operational for 67 years.
Challenges and Considerations
A lot of smart and disruptive construction innovations exist today but they remain in the labs of large companies or start ups. 14Trees mission is to take these innovations to the field, optimize them, and scale them up.
“People don’t really worry or care about technology. “It will still take a long time for it to compete with brick and mortar,” he said. “Brick and mortar, everybody can build their house anywhere they are.
Perrot points out that one of the company’s key challenges is getting its technology approved within different countries’ building regulations. Additionally, he acknowledges that convincing homebuyers to adopt such a novel technology can be difficult, as purchasing or building a house is often an emotionally charged decision.
Global Examples of 3D-Printed Housing Initiatives
In the worldwide endeavor to address the housing crisis, 3D printing has progressed beyond the prototype stage to become a viable option.
- Mexico: The globe saw the first 3D-printed low-income family community in Nacajuca, Tabasco, Mexico. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a covered porch in each 500-square-foot home.
- Malawi: Malawi became home to Africa’s first 3D-printed house through a collaboration between 14Trees, a joint venture of Holcim and CDC Group, and COBOD, a Danish 3D printing company. The building cut carbon emissions by more than 70% when compared to conventional brick buildings.
- United States: Alquist 3D and Habitat for Humanity collaborated to finish the nation's first owner-occupied 3D-printed home in Williamsburg, Virginia in the USA. With its superior thermal performance and 15% cost reduction, this design strategy reduced energy costs by 30%.
- India: On the campus of IIT Madras, Chennai-based business Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions debuted India's first 3D-printed house in 2021. In just 21 days, the 600-square-foot prototype was built using a concrete mix that was specially designed for the environment of India.
- Russia: One entirely printed residential building was constructed on-site in Stupino, Russia, in 2017 by the Russian 3D printing business Apis Cor, in a single day. With the help of the machine's 360-degree robotic arm, the structure was printed using a special concrete mix that was engineered to endure the severe Russian winters.
The most popular material for 3D-printed homes is concrete, but new developments are broadening the selection. The TECLA prototype, developed in Italy by Mario Cucinella Architects and WASP, was a biodegradable, zero-waste house built with clay that was gathered locally.
Regarding sustainability, 3D-printed homes can be made with energy-efficient designs, produce less trash, and require less raw resources. Some use rainwater harvesting devices, solar panels, and passive cooling.
The Future of Housing in Africa
There is a housing crisis taking place across many parts of Africa. Nigeria alone has an estimated shortfall of 17 million housing units. Part of the problem is that every day around 40,000 people relocate to one of Africa’s many vibrant, growing cities. But those cities are struggling to keep up with the demand for new homes, leaving many people with nowhere to live.
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) says the shortage is caused in part by a lack of development in the continent’s house-building industry. But that might be about to change with the availability of new technology and techniques that could speed up and streamline the building of homes.
The 14Trees building projects are one example of public-private cooperation helping to create jobs as well as housing across Africa. The IFC is working with a Chinese multinational construction and engineering company, CITIC Construction, and plans to build 30,000 homes over a five-year period by partnering with local businesses across Africa, and estimates that each housing unit will create five full-time positions, equating to 150,000 new jobs in all.
Kenya's housing crisis: Can 3D printing provide a solution?
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