ViliaSprint², Europe’s largest 3D printed apartment building, has been completed three months ahead of schedule
Developed by Developed by Plurial Novilia and designed using PERI 3D Construction’s COBOD BOD2 3D Construction Printer, the apartment building delivers 12 social housing apartments across three stories and 800m² of living space.
“This result confirms the enormous potential of this construction method, which reduces build times and improves working conditions on site,” said Jérôme Florentin, director of project development at Plurial Novilia.
3D printing done directly on site
ViliaSprint² is the first building in France where both the load-bearing structure and all walls were printed directly on-site.
The COBOD BOD2 gantry system extrudes concrete layer by layer to form the complete shell.
Holcim supplied printable concrete based on its TectorPrint technology, reinforced with synthetic macrofibres, and formulated within the CO₂-reduced ECOPact range.
Modern construction method helps project complete well ahead of schedule
Construction of the 3D printed apartment building began in March 2025 and was completed well ahead of schedule.
A key factor was the optimised sequencing of prefabricated floor slab installation, which halved the number of times the print gantry needed to be repositioned.
3D printing vs conventional methods
Plurial Novilia constructed a near-identical building on the same site using conventional methods, creating a direct performance comparison, both during construction and in operation.
Results confirmed the shell time reduction and highlighted additional workforce benefits: the 3D printed apartment building required only three site operators, compared with six for the conventional structure.
Workers control the printing robot via tablet, eliminating heavy lifting and reducing musculoskeletal risk, a meaningful advantage in a sector already facing skilled labour shortages.
The result shows vividly what is already possible in 3D building printing today, faster construction, fewer workers, and fully load-bearing structures. This is an important milestone and motivation to push this technology further,” stated Dr Fabian Meyer-Brötz, managing director of PERI 3D Construction.
What’s next?
Building on ViliaSprint², Plurial Novilia and its partners are planning a follow-on project of approximately 40 apartments, deploying two 3D printers simultaneously.
The target is to reduce print time by a factor of four and, through greater scale and process maturity, bring costs in line with conventional construction.
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