How 3D-printed homes can help solve Australia's housing crisis
Nick Holden is not your typical builder.
His company, Contour3D - consisting of engineers, material scientists and software experts - creates solid homes using the latest 3D printing technology.
Nick Holden's company, Contour3D, creates new homes using 3D printing technology. Nine
"It's a concrete house, so this will be around for the next 100 years," Holden told 60 Minutes.
The material pumping out of the printer is a special kind of concrete that solidifies quickly so it holds its shape as more layers are poured on top.
"It's what we call reology," Holden said.
"It's like the consistency of toothpaste, but it holds its form even though it's wet."
Watching walls and structures be erected within hours is mesmerising, and a world away from a typical building site.
"We will turn this duplex around from starting to print to completion - ready to move in - in 12 weeks," Holden told me.
"We're turning what would be a 12-month project into a 12-week project."
3D printing is being considered as a potential solution to Australia’s housing crisis. Nine
3D-printed homes are cheaper to build too, with an estimated 25 per cent reduction in overall cost.
The fast turnaround time and affordability of this groundbreaking method is being considered as a potential solution to Australia's housing crisis.
The federal government has set an ambitious goal to build 1.2 million homes in the next five years.
"I'm seeing builders take up the challenge and start to think about new ways that they may be able to help us with that target, and 3D printing is one of them," Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said.
As part of the home build boom, O'Neil also said the government is going to provide a good stream of income for Australian construction firms - a much-needed boost for the struggling industry.
Nick Holden says 3D printing can help turn a 12-month building project into a 12-week project. Nine
One of Australia's most successful builders, Meriton's Harry Triguboff, said if he was starting out today, he would not get into this business.
"The demand has never been so great, the supply has never been so little, and yet they all go broke," Triguboff said.
If 3D printers can truly deliver on speed and affordability to build homes, the results can be realised well within the government's five-year goal.
Nick Holden is just a month away from completing the first 3D-printed house in the country, and he believes this is just the beginning of a new wave of Australian homes.
"Why can't we scale up to print 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 houses a year?
"That's just mathematics."
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