In a journey towards widening the horizons of digitized construction, the Indian Army's Military Engineering Services (MES) constructed two houses within three weeks using 3D Rapid Construction Technology, officials said in a release. The 3D-printed houses, constructed in South-Western Air Command in Gandhinagar, are the first-of-its-kind structures in India.

The defence services said that the 3D printed houses are symbolic of the modern-day rapid construction efforts to cater faster to the growing accommodation requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.

“These structures also stand testament for the solidarity of the Indian Armed Forces in fostering home-grown technologies that are focused on indigenization of Defence technologies, as a part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the statement read.

Constructed in collaboration with the Chennai based start-up Tvasta, each house possesses a built area of around 700 square feet. The disaster-resilient structures are in compliance with Zone-3 earthquake specifications.

The MES recently constructed India’s first 3D Printed sanitary blocks with a total built area of about 600 sq ft at Jaisalmer, marking a new beginning for the possibilities of Construction 3D printing in Defence applications.

The chief engineer involved in the construction had visited a number of stations during his tenure and observed that the long gestation period for ensuring housing for soldiers needed immediate attention. He surmised that adaptation of rapid construction technologies was the need of the hour and saw an effective solution in 3-D concrete printing, which can be effectively adapted within available spaces to meet the minimal urgent requirements of such housing.