DENMARK: Danish architects are building a digitally fabricated house 'printed' from a computer file - a new concept in construction they say minimises waste and simplifies the building process

Record ID: 229234

  • Title: DENMARK: Danish architects are building a digitally fabricated house 'printed' from a computer file - a new concept in construction they say minimises waste and simplifies the building process
  • Date: 3rd May 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARCHITECT AT 1:1 ARKITEKTUR, NICHOLAS BJORNDAL, SAYING: "The main purpose is to make building more simple, and to get a higher quality of build, to minimize waste, and to give the opportunity for clients to get a unique, designed home."
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Denmark
  • Country: Denmark
  • Topics: Business,Industry,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA32QV7GAENF7CKFQB2LGEWN0R9
  • Story Text: Called "Villa Asserbo", its creators call it the house of the future. It's a pilot project currently being completed in the community of Asserbo, some 60 kilometres north of Copenhagen. Architects at the 1:1 Arkitektur firm say the home is a sustainable and inexpensive alternative to conventional housing that they believe consumers wil find attractive.
    The house structure was built in around four weeks with no cranes or heavy machinery used. Instead, it was produced by a printer.
    In an innovative new way of building houses, a CNC-drill receives files for print and then cuts out the wood in the right shapes and sizes, ready for assembly.
    Nicholas Bjorndal, an architect with the 1:1 Arkitektur firm in Copenhagen, calls this new way of building "to print a house".
    He says the aim is to build a good, sustainable and unique house with minimum waste.
    "The main purpose is to make building more simple, and to get a higher quality of build, to minimize waste, and to give the opportunity for clients to get a unique, designed home," he said.
    The house is designed on a computer according to the developer's specifications.
    "Here we see a 3D-model of the house which contains all the information needed to build this house. That means all the number of the sheets of plywood, every component that makes up the house, floor cassettes, all cassettes, roof cassettes, all the information about how many screws and so on. And in the end we can from this file press "print" and directly cut the components on our CNC-machine downstairs," Bjorndal explained.
    Once the design is ready, the file is sent to the printer - in this case a 'computer numerical control', or CNC-machine.
    "It's a computerized milling machine, which cuts out parts for our components. Here we have a stack of plywood, which are then fed into the machine. Basically like a printer - you feed it with sheets of paper, we feed this machine with sheets of plywood," Bjorndal said.
    He says that for future projects, they envisage installing the CNC-machine in a container on the building site along with a stack of plywood and then cut the house where it is being assembled.
    Bjorndal's colleague Fredrik Agdrup says they wanted the printable house to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
    It is made completely out of wood and the plywood comes from sustainable Finnish forests.
    "Well a goal in this project has been to try to make the most CO2-friendly house possible, and we have done that by several aspects. One thing is that we don't use any concrete. Another thing is that we only use one material which is wood. And by producing on a CNC-machine we can also keep the amount of waste very low," he said.
    Another climate friendly feature is the solar heating and the foundation is made of a minimum of steel parts.
    Not all components could be cut to size, however, so the roof was made by carpenters.
    The house floats on its foundations which means the house can be removed and easily transported with a minimal environmental impact.
    Anders Thomsen from the Center for New Industries at the Technological Institute of Denmark says the house is not only Danish but a global concept that can be transferred to any country or culture.
    "And the reason why is, that you have every information: design, interface, everything in a digital platform. And you can just deliver that file to Norway, to China, to the countries that you want to export this concept to - and they can adjust it to the market there. And if they have a CNC-machine, you can deliver a real house in that country," he said.
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