The first three 3D printed homes in Ireland are situated in Grange Close in Dundalk and are social housing units.

It is claimed that technology would reduce labour costs and expedite the construction process.

It makes use of a 3D printer for concrete that is mounted on a gantry and is programmed to pipe concrete out in accordance with an electronic blueprint.

It constructs hollow walls from the ground up without the use of concrete blocks.

“It is identical to a wall made of concrete blocks. The machine places it in 50mm layers as opposed to doing it by hand,” stated Justin Kinsella, MD of Harcourt Technologies (HTL).

“We create a digital model of the building as engineers and architects. The printer receives that model and uses it to determine where to extrude material. It works really fast; the machine just goes around and processes layer after layer of concrete,” Justin stated.

This technique was introduced to Ireland by HTL, a construction technology business.

The construction of the Dundalk homes would be completed three times quicker than if conventional concrete blocks were used, and it anticipates giving the keys to Louth County Council in October.

According to Kinsella, this approach cuts the building timeline by 25–30% and only requires a third of the manpower that would otherwise be needed.

“It enables houses be supplied 25–30% faster than its present iteration. It also eliminates work by about a third and enhances the comparative pace if one was doing it manually by around three times. As time passes and we continue to optimise it, we envision it being significantly shorter,” Kinsella stated.

Currently, the 3D printer at the Dundalk site needs around eighteen minutes to surround the three-unit block with a 50ml coating of concrete.

It is intended that starting next week; this period would be shortened to 12 minutes.

It is still less expensive than building using concrete blocks.