Holcim announces the successful completion of the largest 3D-printed affordable housing to date through 14Trees, its joint venture with British International Investment, the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor. The 3D printing of the 10 housing units in Kenya’s Mvule Gardens project was made possible with TectorPrint,
Holcim’s proprietary, innovative and versatile 3D printing ink, produced in Kenya for the first time. The project’s advanced sustainability profile has 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. It is the first time a 3D-printed housing project has attained this certification.
François Perrot, Managing Director of 14Trees: “With 3D printing, you can solve two problems at once. You can build faster and with better cost efficiency, which will help make affordable housing a reality for the majority. In addition, you can build with less materials, which preserves the resources of the planet for future generations.”
Building on 14Trees' world-first 3D-printed school in Malawi, the Mvule Gardens 52-house complex is scaling up affordable housing in Kenya to help bridge the country’s infrastructure gap and deliver affordable, climate-friendly homes at scale. The complex is being printed in phases of 10-15 houses and tests new innovations with each phase.
14Trees is using a 3D printer capable of building structures more than 10 meters long. TectorPrint is flexible and can adapt to a wide variety of needs, which enables the fast construction of affordable and sustainable homes at scale. The new technology also supports the creation of highly-skilled jobs, with local workers being trained as 3D machine assistants and specialists.
