About

Challenge

Deliverables

Resources

Prizes

Profiles

Venue

Making the housing construction sector more effective, efficient, and sustainable has never been more relevant:

Globally 1.8[1] billion people lack adequate housing.
50% of the 2050 anticipated building stock is yet to be built*
Less than one-third of construction projects are completed on budget+ and just one in four are completed on time+
The building sector is the single most significant industry in terms of emissions, accounting for more than 1/3 of final energy use and process-related CO2 emissions

3D printing offers a unique chance to address these challenges:

Important material and resource savings can be achieved that increase sustainability and lower construction costs.
Construction productivity can be increased with the ability to build a housing envelope in just a matter of days.

The combination of both routes enables keeping construction costs under control, while enhancing design freedom with high aesthetic quality*.

+ on budget or on time: less than 10% deviation from the planned budget or deadline (KPMG, 2015)

*UN-Habitat 2015

If you’re ready to tackle this challenge and want to reimagine building design and construction methods, then don’t miss The 3D Printing Housing Hack!

This is your chance to collaborate with LafargeHolcim and its partners in a hack to pioneer new solutions leveraging concrete 3D printing technology for more effective and efficient housing construction.

About the 3DP Housing Hack

As the global leader in building materials and solutions, LafargeHolcim seeks to constantly introduce and promote high-quality and sustainable building materials and solutions to its customers worldwide.

LafargeHolcim is calling on the universities' best and brightest student teams to join its multiphase hackathon that will challenge participants to revolutionize concrete construction through the use of concrete 3D printing technology.

The 3D Printing Housing Hack includes two main events: an online Ideathon in November 2020 followed by a final Hackathon including a live demonstration at the LafargeHolcim Innovation Center (France) in March 2021.

The Challenge

Utilize concrete 3D printing technology to craft solutions that will redesign and optimize a mid-rise residential (2-storey) building. LafargeHolcim is seeking new solutions that:

Leverage new designs to optimize the use of material

Improve the speed of construction

Enhance aesthetics & customization potential

Resources to help build your prototype:

Practical Resources:

2D drawings & insights for a basic reference building which will serve as a baseline when quantifying optimization
No specific 3D modelling software imposed (neutral format exchange files to be delivered by teams)
Free cement based 3D printable material to prototype your idea with a 3D printer of your university (based on a documented request).

Support Resources:

Mentorship from LafargeHolcim & partners (engineering, material, process, etc.)
Conferences delivered by the forefront players of the technology.

Requirements & Deliverables

Solutions to technical challenges (propose solutions to cope with tensile strength requirements, connections, etc.)

New designs
(Conception, structure)

3D printing
prototypes

Prizes

3RD PLACE

2 000€/team

1ST PLACE

9 000€/team

and Collaboration to further develop the project*

2ND PLACE

4 000€/team

*LafargeHolcim will help the winning team for the construction of a scale 1 prototype by supporting to identify a client or contracting authority to 3D print their project, communicating around the pilot project and providing free 3D printing material, subject to a documented request, until the end of the realization of the project.