The first 3D printed house to be completed in Central Asia has been constructed to withstand earthquakes of up to 7 on the Richter scale
The 100 sq m building is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and a high-risk zone for severe seismic activity.
BM Partners, founded in 2022, printed the walls in just five days using a special reinforced concrete. The concrete uses locally sourced cement, sand and gravel enhanced with the D.fab admixture jointly developed by COBOD International and Cemex.
The mix has a compression strength of 60MPa (6,500 PSI), far exceeding the 7-10MPa (1015-1450 PSI) typical of conventional brick and stone used in Kazakhstan.
The house also includes a seismic beam belt, required by local building codes, which was installed in two days. The beam belt forms the distinctive upper level of the building.
To cope with Kazakhstan’s extreme temperatures, which vary from minus 57C to plus 49C, the building incorporates expanded polystyrene concrete wall insulation. This enhances both thermal and acoustic performance.
In total, the project took less than two months from initial printer setup to finalized interior and furnishings.
The building will act as a showroom for advanced construction technologies and is already open to visitors.
A 3D printed house ‘built to last’
Marat Oshakhtiev, CEO of BM Partners, said: “Embracing modern technologies is essential in today’s world. Our company is committed to staying at the forefront of technological advancements with 3D construction printing within our country.
“With this project, our company has confidently stepped into the future, addressing Kazakhstan’s urgent need for earthquake-resistant modernized, efficient and resilient housing solutions.”
Henrik Lund-Nielsen, founder and general manager of COBOD International, added: “This project once again demonstrates that 3D printed buildings are built to last, also when made in earthquake high-risk areas.
“We are proud to have developed the solution that enabled BM Partners to complete this project fully within just two months and using extra strong 3D printable concrete made from locally sourced materials.”
COBOD recently worked on Switzerland’s first on-site 3D printed building, which was completed in eight days.
