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3D concrete printing project reduces labour requirements in apartment construction.
A housing developer in France has completed Europe’s largest 3D printed apartment building three months ahead of schedule, while simultaneously constructing a near identical building beside it using conventional methods. (main image: Completed in Bezannes, France, the COBOD printed ViliaSprint² apartment building combined onsite concrete printing with prefabricated balcony and building systems across a three storey social housing development.)
The project, known as ViliaSprint², was developed by Plurial Novilia in Bezannes using the PERI 3D Construction implementation of the COBOD BOD2 3D concrete printing system. The development delivers 12 social housing apartments across three storeys and approximately 800 square metres.
What separates the project from many earlier 3D printed housing trials is the direct comparison built into the programme itself.
Plurial Novilia constructed a second apartment building on the same site using conventional construction methods, allowing labour requirements, sequencing and programme durations to be compared under similar conditions.
COBOD and PERI 3D Construction used onsite concrete printing to deliver the ViliaSprint² apartment project in France.
Side by side comparison reveals labour and sequencing differences
According to project data, the printed structure required three site operators, compared with six workers for the conventionally built equivalent. Workers operated the printing system via tablet controls rather than conventional manual construction processes.
The shell structure was completed in 34 effective printing days, below the original 50-day estimate.
Both the load bearing structure and wall systems were printed directly onsite. The project also integrated prefabricated floor slab installation sequencing intended to reduce the number of gantry repositioning movements during printing.
Material waste was reportedly reduced from 10% to 5%, while the curved geometry of the building enabled further concrete volume reductions.
Watch ViliaSprint² being printed.
Australian offsite sector already reflects parts of the same shift
For Australia’s offsite sector, the project is less relevant as a standalone 3D printing exercise than as an example of how construction sequencing, automation and prefabricated assembly are increasingly being combined into coordinated delivery systems.
While large scale concrete printing remains limited locally, parts of the underlying approach already exist across segments of the Australian market, particularly in digitally coordinated manufacturing, automated fabrication and repeatable assembly systems used in modular and panelised construction.
The French project does not suggest conventional construction is being displaced in the short term. However, it does provide a rare side-by-side comparison of how automated construction systems perform against standard site delivery under comparable project conditions.
