3D printed homes built in less than 24 hours will ‘be mainstream by 2025’ in UK
As the average house price in Britain soars above £220,000, it's time to rethink how we build our homes
EXPERTS say 3D-printed houses will be "mainstream by 2025", and could put an end to Britain's housing crisis.
A new report details how Brits are less than a decade away from enjoying lower house prices thanks to a robot revolution in the construction of homes.
3D printing, or "additive manufacturing", is a process of layering up a material to build complicated structures.
It works just like regular home printers – but instead of ink, a 3D printer will use materials like plastic or metal.
Using giant 3D printers, it's been proven possible to quickly and cheaply build homes. Sadly the tech is far from mainstream – for now.
"By 2025 we will already see huge changes in the construction industry thanks to technology with drones, AI and 3D printing all becoming commonplace," explains Dr Ian Pearson, a futurologist who produced the report for Colmore Tang Construction.
He went on: "3D-printed homes, which can be built in 12 to 24 hours depending on size, could revolutionise the way we live, putting an end to the housing crisis."
Another hot tip for the future from Dr Pearson was that drones would be carrying materials up building sites by 2025 too.
But the report – which focuses on construction in the near and distant future – gets even wackier.
Dr Pearson believes that by 2075, there'll be "self-assembling buildings" that are powered by artificial intelligence.
This so-called "kinetic architecture" will be guided by AI to make sure the buildings are "developed a cording to the architect's plans".
Andy Robinson, who heads up Birmingham-based Colmore Tang, talked up the prospect of using sci-fi style tech when building homes.
"The forward-thinking report has shown that technology can have a positive impact on the construction industry."
Back in March, we revealed how a US company had designed a house that could be built in around 24 hours using a giant 3D printer.
Better still, the attractive slap-up homes cost less than $4,000 (£2,900) to make.
"While recent decades have brought major advances in personal technology, construction practices remain relatively unchanged since the 1950s," construction firm Icon explained.
"Icon aims to change this, ushering in a new era in construction to meet the needs of the future."
The first concept home was built using a Vulcan 3D printer, which is able to print a single-storey 600-800-square-foot home in a single day.
The launch of the homes is expected to take place in El Salvador before the end of 2019, providing a community of homes for underserved families.
Would you like to live in a 3D-printed home? Let us know in the comments!
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