It was announced last week that WinSun, an innovative Chinese construction company, had successfully assembled the world’s first 3D printed apartment, which stands five stories tall.

According to their website, the printer stands at “20 feet tall, 33 feet wide and 132 feet long” and can build houses in less than 24 hours.

The process begins traditionally with a CAD design as a template but from there, a mechanical extruder arm takes over and lays down concrete and begins to form each piece of the structure separately. The materials used in the printer to form these parts are all from recycled construction waste, industrial waste such as glass and tailings, and a hardening agent. When the individual pieces are sent to the construction site, they are then assembled with insulation and steel reinforcements to stay up to code.

The company’s website says that its process is not only environmentally friendly by using recycled materials, but it also saves 60 percent on the materials, 70 percent on time and 80 percent on labor.

WinSun is also working to put nearly 100 new recycle stations around China to help stock the recycled materials and keep up with the demand. With this many benefits to their product and process, it will be interesting to see how necessary construction workers are in the next 30 years.

You can check out photos of the completed apartment and other projects at their website here, as well as learn more about the company and their future plans:

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