Contour 3D might soon change the way people find a place to live in Australia.

A Current Affair reported that this company uses giant 3D printers to build homes. Nick Holden, its founder and CEO, called it "digital construction" and explained, "The printer pours layers of special concrete mix one after another in long swirls."

And the speed is striking. "So it took us 15 days to 3D print the walls. There was 140 tons worth of our material to go in here," Holden said. Regular construction can take up to 40 weeks. Switching to 3D printing cuts that time down to about 16 weeks. For families stuck on housing waiting lists, that difference can mean everything.

Kelly and her mom, Sandra, know the weight of waiting. Sandra lives with multiple medical conditions and struggles to breathe. Kelly cares for her full-time. Right now, they're living in emergency accommodation in Sydney's southwest.

"She can't think for herself, she can't bathe herself, because of the lungs she can hardly breathe," Kelly said. They've been on the New South Wales housing register for two years. Kelly added that if they choose an area that meets her mom's needs, like Camden, the wait time is 30 years.

Contour 3D wants to shorten these waits. The company recently built Australia's first 3D-printed social housing project. Two two-bedroom homes in Dubbo, New South Wales, will soon welcome tenants. This build came from a partnership between Aboriginal Sustainable Homes, Contour 3D, and the New South Wales Aboriginal Housing Office.

New South Wales minister for housing Rose Jackson said, "We need homes and we need them quickly." 

Holden said he hopes this technology can push forward a pilot program for more affordable housing. "Houses need to be built," he said.

These homes aren't just quick to make. Holden explained, "Our material that we have here is 40% recycled. It uses a lot of waste materials that would normally go to landfill." 

He also said, "It's a concrete house, so [it has] a 100-year design life. It's built for longevity and we are seeing around about a 20% overall saving in the whole build."

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Building sites look different, too. Holden noted, "To construct all the structural walls as you see here … really it's a team of three or four people and the most important guy on the site is the guy with a laptop."

People get stronger roofs over their heads. The planet sees less concrete waste piling up. And for families like Kelly and Sandra, these printed houses could finally give them a place to call home. 

As Kelly said, "I just want a basic home. A place that I can call home."

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