Amsterdam's 3D-printed cabin offers tiny living by the canal

A former industrial corner of Amsterdam is now home to a tiny new cabin offering urban dwellers a mini-retreat to "escape the speed of everyday city life." Local firm DUS Architects 3D-printed the tiny guesthouse to accommodate short-term visitors, who can also enjoy the cabin's own mini-garden and outdoor bathtub.

The Urban Cabin is part of DUS Architects' 3D Print Living Lab research. The studio views it as an important step towards one day using its in-house 3D printing technology to build sustainable, customizable and on-demand housing solutions for fast-growing cities. At 8 sq m (86 sq ft), it's also in tiny house territory, demonstrating the potential of 3D-printing to become a useful method for constructing such dwellings.

To design the cabin, DUS tells New Atlas it employed an iterative and agile approach. The structure was printed in bio-plastic over a period of about four weeks. Using bio-plastic as the material means that the cabin is fully recyclable, so once it comes to the end of its lifespan it can be shredded and used again to re-print into different designs.

Once the printing was complete, the shelter was assembled using a number of joining methods including click-connections and glue. DUS says the design allows them to showcase various kinds of façade ornament, along with smart solutions for insulation and material consumption.

Among the features of the cabin are electricity, a mini-porch and an indoor space with a ceiling rising high over a sofa that doubles as a bed. The interior floor merges into the stepped porch and outside a turfed area on the ground provides a small garden area where the bathtub sits with running water. The aim of these features is to play with the relationship between the indoor and outdoor spaces.

Work on the cabin began last year and the completed guesthouse is currently on show in Amsterdam's inner north. It can be booked for a short stay by emailing DUS Architects.

Source: DUS Architects