A student village comprising 36 3D-printed apartments has been completed by 3DCP Group using a COBOD 3D printer in Denmark.
The project, carried out for affordable housing organisation NordVestBO, is believed to be Europe's largest 3D-printed housing project. Students have recently moved in.
Apartments have been built in six clusters of six units and measure between 38-50m² across an area of 1,650m². The buildings were delivered at €1,880 per m² as built, excluding design and engineering, utility connection charges and site and landscaping works - this is below Denmark's statutory maximum budget for subsidised housing. For residents, that means rent from €670 a month for a 50m² apartment, and less for the smaller units.
Per 3DCP Group and COBOD, the entire project was printed by the same crew of three people, with one building of six apartments printed in five working days.
The partnering organisations have also been pleased with the aesthetics of the buildings, citing their curved walls and rounded forms as elements that would be cost-prohibitive with conventional means. Inside, every apartment works as a full home (kitchen, study space, lounge, bathroom, and a sleeping area) with generous roof windows and sloped ceilings drawing daylight deep into the rooms. Printed concrete sits alongside timber, cork panelling, and glass. Residents will also have access to shared courtyards, gardens, footpaths, and cycle parking facilities. The buildings were designed by SAGA Space Architects together with MS+.
Additionally, the project was said to deliver a range of sustainability benefits. The team sourced materials locally, including a cement that emits up to 30% less CO₂ in production than traditional cement, and the site was handled with the same restraint: the buildings were slotted in among the existing trees, leaving 90% of them standing.
Mikkel Brich, Co-Founder and CEO of 3DCP Group, said: "The technical breakthrough was not printing one successful structure. It was repeating the process across six clusters while improving speed, maintaining accuracy, and integrating the printed elements with conventional building systems."
Philip Lund-Nielsen, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of COBOD, added: "Construction 3D printing builds affordable housing at scale, and this student village is the largest example of it in Europe so far. The students moving in benefit from lower rents, the buildings look fantastic, and we are glad to see it scaling."
On the back of Skovsporet, 3DCP Group and SAGA Space Architects are already trialling new material mixes and production methods for their next projects.
