3D printing has gained popularity as scientists, engineers, architects, and innovators discover more ways that we can use this technology to make housing more equitable and sustainable.

Now, as reported by The Guardian, a Dutch couple has become the tenants of Europe’s first fully 3D printed house. Elize Lutz, 70, and Harrie Dekkers, 67, officially moved into their charming boulder-shaped home last Thursday.

Over the last couple of years, other properties constructing using 3D-printing technology have been popping up in places including the US, Prague, and Madagascar. 3D printing methods have the potential to cut costs and curb environmental damage by reducing the amount of cement that is used. They also provide alternatives for places like the Netherlands where there is a shortage of skilled bricklayers.

Lutz and Dekkers’ desired boulder-Esque home would have been extremely difficult and costly to build using traditional construction methods, but the development that produced it hopes that the creation of this 3D-printed home will expand the options in shape and style of future home owners’ dwellings. The house is the first of five homes on a plot of land in Eindhoven planned by the construction firm Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix.

As for Lutz and Dekkers, they are pleased with their quirky home, saying “It is beautiful,” and that “it has the feel of a bunker—it feels safe.” Now, the rest of the community waits in anticipation for the next imaginative design to join the Eindhoven neighborhood.

Source Image: The Guardian