QR3D: Singapore’s First 3D-Printed House

While it is possible to 3D print a piece of furniture or even a prefabricated bathroom, what about an entire house? Lim Koon Park, founder and director of architecture studio Park + Associates, answered this question with QR3D, a home he designed for his family and Singapore’s first fully 3D-printed multi-story house.

QR3D is now a prototype for 3D printing in Southeast Asia, where the construction industry has yet to widely adopt the technology. The idea arose from the need to address the severe labor shortage – and the extremely high construction costs that followed – in the post-pandemic period.

CES_InnovFab, a Singapore-based company specializing in 3D concrete printing (3DCP), played an essential role in the project.

Since 3DCP automates the construction process, a 3D-printed house significantly reduces both labor needs and the amount of waste, resulting in a dramatic reduction in both costs and construction times. It also reduces the typical negative impacts of building sites on local neighborhoods, including noise, construction traffic, and dust levels.

QR3D: A prototype for 3D printing in Southeast Asia

“This was our first time working with 3D printing”, explains Lim Koon Park. “It required much more problem-solving and collaboration than conventional methods. But that’s precisely what made it so satisfying – we were discovering solutions in real time”.

Over 90% of the house is 3D-printed concrete, produced both onsite and offsite using a mix developed through extensive research.

As the architect explains, there are two approaches to 3D-printing a house. The first is onsite printing. This requires having the 3D printer on the construction site (fitted with protection against wind, rain, and so on) and printing the walls panel by panel. The second approach involves the offsite printing of prefabricated elements. The process is essentially the same, but carried out in a factory and then transported to the site.

The oculus: The heart of the project

The house, which also has an elevator and outdoor garden, spans four levels. On the first floor are the living area and guest room; on the mezzanine, a family room and another bedroom; while the upper floors have four more bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet and en suite bathroom. Finally, between the penultimate and top floors, there is a small double-height loft comprising a study and a mezzanine with a bed.

The interiors reveal the 3D printing approach, with the striated layers of the printed concrete left exposed and tactile, highlighting the materiality of the process.

At the heart of the house is the oculus – a sculptural void that dominates the dining room and rises the full height of the building. It represents a homage to the house that previously occupied the site – a 1990s neoclassical residence, where the family lived for many years – while serving as passive ventilation that channels warm air upward, where it is extracted by a concealed fan. The opening also allows natural light to filter down from above, creating shifting chiaroscuro patterns in the circulation areas and rooms of the house.

Toward technological but human architecture

“The time and costs involved with having multiple trades working on a single wall were effectively eliminated”, says Lim Koon Park. “For example, since the walls were printed, we didn’t need timber formwork for concreting – a process that’s very demanding in terms of both labor and materials. We didn’t use a single brick in the entire house, while leaving the walls exposed eliminated the need for materials and labor for plastering or painting”.

The project marks a departure from the idea that 3D printing produces modular, serial architecture dictated by nothing but efficiency. QR3D demonstrates that the technique can create spaces with a unique aesthetic identity. As the architect says, QR3D anticipates a future in which architecture is both technologically advanced and deeply human.