The first solar passive house in the world featuring 3D printed concrete walls is opening its metaphorical doors next week to the public for the first time.
The Huia house, built by Craft Homes and designed by Duncan Firth has extended an invite to architects, builders and the wider public to register to visit their first mid-build open home to see the mastery behind the impressive structure from 3pm – 5pm, Friday 3 March 2023.
The north-facing 3D printed concrete walls, built by Hamilton-based company QOROX are key to the environmentally passive solar design, with the cement substrate locally sourced in New Zealand’s North Island. Built to withstand a range of environmental factors, the walls exceed seismic standards, are fire and waterproof and transmit heat incredibly well due to its strong structure and textured finish.
QOROX Director Wafaey Swelim said the Huia would be able to reap the benefits of 3D printed concrete in all seasons for the entirety of its lifetime.
“Concrete walls are excellent at maintaining a consistent temperature to keep a heat warm or cool as the weather changes so are perfect for a solar-heated home,” said Swelim.
“Concrete walls are completely waterproof so if a flood event occurs, like those that devastated parts of Auckland and the East Coast recently, the walls wouldn’t need to be torn down and replaced like their timber counterparts.”
The Huia concrete walls feature curves, ridges and textures, expertly printed and custom-designed to the customer’s unique tastes, Swelim added.
“The walls were printed in only 20 hours of printing using 2 staff and installed on-site over 3 trips – an impressively short timeframe when compared to traditional building methods.”
“It truly is construction for the future,” Swelim added. 3D printed concrete by QOROX is BRANZ appraised as a replacement for masonry walls or concrete walls and was tested and designed over a two-year period to meet all New Zealand conditions. The walls also achieve the required acoustic performance for multi storey buildings and townhouses, making for a comfortable living environment.
The passive solar home is built to capture maximum sunlight, warmth and airflow throughout the day, without interrupting its impressive view. The Huia mid build open home is an opportunity to see the best of innovative building products, QOROX and Formance in action and meet Duncan Firth and Craft Homes in person. Interested parties can register to attend the open home by heading to qorox.co.nz/huia-house-open-home.
