This family just moved into a 3D-printed home

Can a 3D printer make a house a home?

© Provided by CNET   Screenshot by CNET / BBC video

By Kaitlin Benz, CNET

France is famous for its wine, cheese and a two-week bicycle race. Now, it's about to be known for shaking up the construction industry with a 1,022-square-foot, four-bedroom house that was created entirely by 3D printing -- one where a family of five is actually going to live.

The house cost just $207,000, or £176,000 and took just 54 hours to build, plus another four months to add windows, doors and a roof. A home built with traditional construction techniques would cost about 20 percent more, according to a report Friday from BBC News.

Nordine and Nouria Ramdani plus their three children moved in on June 29, according to Ouest France, after two other families reportedly declined offers to live there.

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The project was a collaboration between the city council of Nantes, France, a housing association and the University of Nantes.

Printing a home gives architects greater creative freedom since it lets them design in free-flowing shapes, Benoit Furet, professor at the University of Nantes who spearheaded the project, told the BBC. The home in Nantes, for example, was built to curve around a 100-year-old tree on the property. The house is also more environmentally friendly, without the waste that traditional construction processes produce.

Furet is working on a project to 3D-print 18 houses in Paris as well as a 2,300-square-foot commercial building.