The U.S. and Canada have seen several single-story 3D-printed buildings in recent years. Now, Nidus3D has completed the printing of a two-story building in Ontario, which Nidus3D says is the first multi-storey 3D-printed building in North America.
Nidus3D used the BOD2 printer from COBOD, whose technology has already been used in several countries and used to 3D-print the first two- and three-story buildings in Europe. As another advantage of the COBOD 3D construction printer, the BOD2 can print with real concrete with a particle size up 10mm and 99 percent based on locally found raw materials.
The two-story house is the second structure nidus3D built, the first being in the summer of 2022. The building will have a studio on the ground floor, a residence above, and the area of the building will be 2,300 square feet of mixed-use space. One of the methods nidus3D developed in the project was a 3D-printed horizontal beam printed on-site and lifted into place by a crane.
With the COBOD International 3D construction printing technology, nidus3D aims to address the current housing gap in Canada. COBOD and nidus3D both believe that 3D-printing houses will help address the current crisis.
"We have a critical shortfall of skilled labourers, and a massive and growing demand for housing all across Canada," says Ian Arthur, one of the nidus3D founders and continued: "So, if we do not begin to look at new ways of building, we're never going to catch up. It is part of our core values, to seek solutions to address the housing crisis and to help build affordable housing with the help of 3D printing".
One of the many advantages of 3D-printed houses is that they can be built quickly. The complete building took only 80 hours to print, down from the 200 hours of the first building and nidus3D is convinced that future buildings will be made even faster.
