Introducing the world's tallest 3d printed building

The buildings, which were unveiled earlier this month, take the concept of 3D printing to a whole new level. Several levels higher, to be exact, with WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co producing a five-storey property with their gigantic 3D printer - a big step up from their single-storey 200-square-metre huts of 2014.

Indeed, the villa alone spans a whopping 1,100 square metres.

How do they do it? WinSun prints out the homes in pieces using a 150-metre-long printer, which uses a patented ink that is made from cement and industrial waste. (The firm owns over 98 patents, notes 3Ders, establishing its position at the head of the 3D printing architecture Pack.)

Ma Yi He, CEO, told members of the press that their "ink" is environmentally friendly, as well as healthier for workers, thanks to its elimination of hazardous materials.

3D printed houses were so last year

Once printed, the parts of the home are then assembled on site, with the villa alone printed in just one day. Indeed, Ma says that the technology can shorten production time for homes by 50 to even 70 per cent.

With no standards for 3D printed buildings yet established - although the structures are in compliance with national Chinese standards - the current costs for the  mansion amounted to around $161,000. 10 have already been ordered by Taiwanese real estate company Tomson Group. The Egyptian government has also ordered 20,000 affordable single-storey homes, reports City Lab.

As the notion of printing homes becomes an increasingly (ahem) concrete reality, what next for the technology? Wa is only set to keep building his ambitions higher, from a printer that turns sand into building materials and construction factories in more than 20 countries to even printing bridges.

Bricks? Where he's going, he doesn't need bricks.

All photos: Core77