3D printing is now becoming commonplace, in a range of industries. Home building is quickly becoming one of those.
Serendix is a Japanese company that made headlines last year by creating a small proof-of-concept home that could be printed in one day. Their new, larger Serendix50 is larger (50 meters, or 538 square feet), and most impressively, costs just 5.5 million yen (around $37,600).
At that price, the home would be a breakthrough for a number of projects, from low-income housing to experimental projects and more.
The company’s design, called Fujitsubo (“the barnacle”), is small, at 538 square feet. The average new American house is nearly five times larger. But the tiny house—with one bedroom, one bathroom, and an open living room connected to the kitchen—has enough space for one person or a couple to live comfortably.
The size is one way to help keep the cost down. In the U.S., local rules often require minimum sizes for houses and lots, and the cost of land can make it infeasible for developers to build small “starter” homes.
