A Dutch Couple Are the First Tenants of This Boulder-Shaped 3D-Printed Home
The Flintstones-style home in Eindhoven is the first legally habitable house in Europe with 3D-printed load-bearing walls.
The Flintstones-style home in Eindhoven is the first legally habitable house in Europe with 3D-printed load-bearing walls.
3D-printed homes have made headlines in recent years, but most have been more conceptual than practical. Now a boulder-shaped home in the Eindhoven suburb of Bosrijk has become the first legally habitable property with 3D-printed load-bearing walls—and on August 1, a retired Dutch couple, Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers, will officially move in. "My first feeling when I saw the picture [of the house] was like a child in wonder," recalls Elize. "It’s a fairytale house—a gigantic boulder!"
Dutch couple Elize Lutz, 70, and Harrie Dekkers, 67, are the tenants of the 3D-printed home near Eindhoven’s Beatrix canal. They picked up their digital access key on April 30, and they will officially move in on August 1. The retired shopkeepers from Amsterdam applied to live in the property for six months following a call for applicants, and they are paying €800 a month—about half the market value.
Courtesy Project Milestone
Project Milestone is made up of participants from Eindhoven University of Technology, mortar and concrete company Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix, engineering firm Witteveen+Bos, and construction company Van Wijnen. The land was made available by the local authority, and the homes will be bought by residential investor Vesteda and rented out to test their viability.
Courtesy Project Milestone
The two-bedroom bungalow is part of Project Milestone, which aims to create the world’s first 3D-printed homes that meet statutory building requirements and are fit for habitation. During a six-month rental period, Elize and Harrie will keep track of their experience in the home to test whether this method of building is viable for the future.
"It will be a pleasure for me to share our living experience," says Elize. "I am a diarist, and I enjoy describing the daily experience."
The home has 94 square meters (1011 square feet) of living space, with an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area and two bedrooms.
Courtesy Project Milestone
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Dutch Couple Are the First Tenants of This Boulder-Shaped 3D-Printed Home
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