14Trees 3D Prints 10 Houses at Mvule Gardens in Kilifi

14 Trees (Kenya) Ltd has 3D printed 10 houses at Mvule Gardens in Kilifi as work gathers pace on the world’s largest 3D construction site.

The 10 houses, which were printed in 10 weeks – averaging one house per week – are part of 52 houses that are set to be printed at the Kilifi gated community.

14Trees, a joint venture between Holcim and CDC Group, began work on site last October, months after delivering Kenya’s first 3D printed house in Athi River.

This week, the company said it had 3D printed six 3-bedroom (76 sq m) houses and four 2-bedroom (56 sq m) houses using a single BOD2 printer from COBOD.

COBOD is a world leader in 3D construction printing solutions while BOD2 is the world’s best-selling construction 3D printer with 65+ printers sold worldwide.

“From Oct. 2022 to Jan. 2023, 14Trees 3D printed 10 houses in Kilifi, Kenya, averaging one house per week,” the company said in a press statement.

As this happened, the project’s sustainability profile attained an EDGE Advanced sustainable design certification by the World Bank’s IFC, which recognizes resource-efficient buildings with the potential to be zero-carbon.

Mvule Gardens is the first 3D-printed housing project to attain this certification.

RELATED: Work Begins on Africa’s Largest 3D-Printed Estate

14Trees managing director Francois Perrot said the application of the 3D construction technology offers better cost efficiency while helping developers to build faster.

“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,” Perrot said.

14Trees will now move into the next phases of the project, which consists of 10-15 houses each – with build costs 20% lower than standard houses.

“Using Holcim’s proprietary 3D printing materials, TectorPrint, made at a local plant, has already meant a significant reduction in costs,” the company said.

14Trees introduced construction 3D printing in Africa.

The company is credited with the delivery of the first 3D-printed house in Africa and the world’s first 3D-printed school in Malawi.

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