Nidus3D, based in Kingston, printed the very first 3D printed multi-family apartment building in Canada in August last year, which was a Leamington fourplex. The company also printed North America’s first 3D printed two-storied building, i.e. a house at Wolfe Island, in proximity to Kingston. The two ventures are comparatively narrower with the printable area of the concrete printer going till only 40 feet. Yet, there is an upcoming 3D printed development, namely a couple of big warehouse located near Kingston, which will become the country’s first such 3D printed buildings that have been allowed for commercial usage as well. 

The warehouse project will be the launch of the nidus3D exclusive system for deploying wall sections printed on site that will be joined together by a crane, enabling the company to print out buildings which are bigger than the printing device itself. The company has also stated that these structures may be swiftly built, with the ground level of the house on Wolfe Island coming up within just two weeks, using lower materials and generating almost negligible waste for ensuring better insulated, airtight, sustainable, and energy-friendly structures. 

Canada Mulls 3D Printing

The current housing costs are still like conventional masonry-built units, although it will steadily become even more reasonable with more printers anticipated to become available in Vancouver and Toronto by the next year. A drop in costs could see Canada pinning its hopes on 3D printing as the solution towards finally ensuring affordable housing for everyone. It will also solve the crisis spiraling from the shortage of labor. The construction sector in the country currently witnesses sky-high rates of vacancies and these new solutions could be a long-term fix for balancing out the same. B.C. and Ontario also require more affordable housing among other provinces, for tackling this end of the market crisis. Canada requires scaling up the home figures to 3.5 million units from 2.3 million units by 2030 to meet demand. 

nidus3D also feels that 3D printing will ultimately make the procedure simpler, while automating it as well. Eventually, the company envisions a scenario where the printer can be operated by only a couple of people. Global real estate is steadily embracing 3D printed structures, with China having already built the tallest 3D printed building in the world, which is a five-storied apartment structure. Dubai already has the biggest one in the world, which is a municipal building covering 6,900 square feet. SQ4D, a construction company, also sold the first 3D printed home in the USA last year for US$299,000 at Riverhead, New York. 

USA construction firm Icon is also leading a 3D printed community of 100 homes at Texas that has been designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group. The partners have already received a NASA contract of US$57 million in December for building a 3D printed and habitable lunar base on the surface of the moon. Some experts feel that prefabricated structures could be a bigger innovation in recent years with 3D printing expected to take a few years to find its feet in the global housing market.