A 3D printed mansion in China. Source: Facebook

Dr Hank Haeusler, senior architecture lecturer at the University of NSW, said building a 3D printed house was technically possible but the key was finding the right client, developer and builders to construct a property.

“I think it is definitely going to happen ... I think in five to 10 years we will see more and more 3D printed housing construction and nodes,” Dr Haeusler told news.com.au.

He said researchers at RMIT had developed a 3D printed structural node that could be used to connect building parts, such as flat concrete walls together, and 3D printing was already being used in the manufacture of cars and planes and in other industries.

While still in an experimental stage, the capability of 3D printers to construct components of a house had been demonstrated, and architects were racing to perfect the technique.

Researchers at the University of Southern California have been developing Contour Crafting technology for more than 10 years and Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis said it was his aim to build a house from foundation to roof in less than 24 hours.

“Our goal,” he told The Age in 2003, “is to be able to completely construct a one-storey 185-square-metre home on site in one day, without using human hands.”

He hoped to develop a giant printer, able to print a whole house in a single run.

Prof Khoshnevis told news.com.au that entry level 3D printing machines for buildings would be offered for sale within the next couple of years but extensive testing was required before they could get the technology certified.

“One should realise that initially 3D printing can build the basic shell of the building. There is much more that goes into a house,” Prof Khoshnevis said.

He said realistically, 3D printing could make building a traditional home about 10 per cent cheaper. But for simple houses, such as low income or emergency shelters, the savings could be much higher.

The robot automates the process of building a house from scratch. Contour Crafting. Source: Supplied

In China last year, company WinSun Decoration Design Engineering unveiled its capabilities, printing 10 houses in just 24 hours using what it described as the world’s biggest 3D printers.

The total cost of this undertaking? Just $US5000 ($AU6494) per house. While these homes consisted of just one room, the company also claims to have built a five-storey structure, which it says is the “world’s tallest 3D printed building”, and a 3D printed mansion costing about $US161,000 ($AU209,111).

WinSun’s four huge printers were used to create walls using a combination of recycled materials and concrete. The concrete was piped in layers on top of each other, similar to squeezing icing from a pastry bag, to create the walls. The walls are then assembled on site.

Prof Khoshnevis said the unique advantage that 3D printed houses presented was architectural flexibility, a view that is shared by Dr Haeusler.

“Time will tell if 3D printing really will be cheaper but it will definitely be possible to design and build complex shapes,” Dr Haeusler said.

In fact Dr Haeusler believes the main benefit of 3D printing is its potential for creating non-standard shapes. If architect Jorn Utzon was trying to build the Sydney Opera House now, Dr Haeusler said he would definitely be looking at using 3D technology.

He said that while 3D print houses could ultimately become a cheaper option as labour costs rose, it still used traditional building materials such as concrete.

“I think for the bog standard Australian suburban house, I wouldn’t see any point in 3D printing because you can easily go and buy design components such as bricks easily from stores such as Bunnings. But if you want to design and build a house like the Opera House where you couldn't' get the components, then 3D printing becomes an advantage.”

Dr Haeusler said that once more people started using it, and if the cost of hiring builders continued to rise, there would be a “tipping point” where 3D printing would become an attractive alternative.

“At the moment it wouldn’t make a contribution to affordable housing because technology has not got to the stage yet where it could be used for mass commercial production.”