WATG unveils plans for the world’s first freeform 3D-printed house

WATG Urban Architecture designed the world’s first freeform 3D-printed house, and the proposal won first prize in the recent Freeform Home Design Challenge, sponsored by Branch Technology.

The aptly named Curve Appeal is envisioned as a bubble-like structure with undulating slopes and space-age style. The design fuses a desire for connection to nature with efficient building technologies for a home of the future that serves its occupants as well as it serves the surrounding environment.

The global design competition challenged architects, designers, engineers, and artists to dream up 3D-printing solutions for real world living. Entry rules called for designs for a 600-800-square-foot single-family home that would “rethink traditional architectural aesthetics, ergonomics, construction, building systems, and structure from the ground up,” according to a press release. The winning design, Curve Appeal, certainly does all of that—and more.

Branch Technology Founder Platt Boyd applauded the Chicago-based architecture firm for its innovative response to the design challenge. “Curve Appeal is a very thoughtful approach to the design of our first house,” he said in a statement. “It responds well to the site conditions, magnifies the possibilities of cellular fabrication and pushes the envelope of what is possible while still utilizing more economical methods for conventional building systems integration.”

WATG’s freeform house design relies on the marriage of an interior core and an exterior skin. Within the home’s transparent walls, occupants can enjoy a light-filled open floor plan while being protected from the elements. Curve Appeal’s exterior skin is comprised of rolling archways intended to impart an organic feel and serve as a poetic connection between the home’s inhabitants and the rest of the outside world.

Right now, Curve Appeal and its competing designs exist in concept only. The winning design will be become reality, though. WATG’s freeform house will be constructed in Chattanooga, Tennessee at Branch Technology’s lab. The planning phase will begin soon, with the first 3D-printed components of the home expected to be produced in 2017.