In the mountainous region of western Colombia, construction 3D printing has successfully taken root. Cement company Cementos Argos recently completed South America's first 3D‑printed social housing project — two single‑story homes of 63 square meters each, located in La Unión, Antioquia.
The team used COBOD's Bod2 construction printer and built the homes for the non‑profit Berta Martínez Foundation. Printing was carried out directly on‑site, and the walls were completed in just 16 cumulative hours over three days. Each home includes two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a porch. The walls are 2.2 meters high and topped with a wooden roof.
According to COBOD, this process is 30% faster than conventional construction, reduces waste by 15–30%, and cuts material costs by 20%. For the material, Cementos Argos developed a custom mortar, of which 99% of the raw materials came from local sources. The wall compressive strength exceeds 35 MPa, meeting local seismic codes. Fibers and chemical additives were added to the dry mix to resist cracking caused by wind, moisture, and temperature changes. The walls feature a double‑skin design with an intermediate air cavity for thermal insulation.
The project site is remote, so the team had to transport the printer and materials over mountain roads and overcome heavy rainfall. The printing equipment was delivered using five small trucks. Daniel Duque, R&D Director, said the two homes are just the beginning — the company is now planning a project with 20 centralized social housing units, and future plans include off‑site wall printing to lower on‑site installation costs. The new project will also optimize structural design to make the technology more economically viable.
The 3D‑printed homes have flexible interior layouts and can be expanded laterally. The practice in the Colombian mountains shows that construction 3D printing can be used not only in flat urban areas but also to solve housing problems quickly and cost‑effectively in remote regions.
