3D printed student housing in Denmark welcomes first residents

As the fall 2026 semester kicks off, a group of 36 university students in Denmark will be able to boast of their very unique living arrangements. This cohort is the first to move into and live in a brand new 3D printed student village. Located in the town of Holstebro, these student apartments were recently completed by 3DCP Group using COBOD’s construction 3D printing technology.

The innovative student village is called Skovsporet (or the Forest Trail) and comprises six buildings over 1,650 m² with a total of 36 student apartments measuring 38 to 50 m² each. There is much that makes these new residences unique. For one, they were constructed using the BOD3 construction 3D printer on-site and using a crew of just three people. The printing of a whole building (i.e. six apartment units) reportedly only took five days to complete.

The apartments were also constructed to be affordable, costing just €1,880 per m² (about $205 per square foot) as built. This rate, we should say, excludes design and engineering, utility connection charges and site and landscaping works. For the students living in them, the low cost is maintained at just €670 (~$780) a month for a 50 m² apartment and lower rates for the smaller units, which is substantially less than the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Denmark. Notably, the entire project itself was realized in cooperation with NordVestBO, an affordable housing organization.

Cost is not the only benefit that using construction 3D printing has delivered: the technology has also allowed for an aesthetically intentional design, with curved walls, large windows, and classically Scandinavian features, conceived by SAGA Space Architects and MS+. As student Amalie Hvas, who just moved into one of the apartments, said: “I like it. It gives the building character. When you think of 3D printing, you picture a little machine making something in plastic—not an entire apartment!”

Sustainability was also a key priority in this project. To this end, the partners used locally sourced building materials, including a 3D printable cement that emits 30% less CO₂ in production compared to traditional cement. The building site was also planned to have the least impact on the surrounding nature, with 90% of trees left standing—something made possible by the in-situ nature of COBOD’s 3D printing technology.

Inside the apartments, students have everything they need, including a sleeping area, study space, lounge, kitchen, and bathroom. Factors like sufficient daylight have been accounted for, with large windows and sunlights integrated into the structure and sloped ceilings that are designed to carry light throughout the rooms. The layered texture of 3D printed concrete walls is complemented by natural wood and cork paneling, which bring warmth to the spaces. The student village also features a number of shared amenities, including courtyards, gardens, footpaths, a bicycle parking. Altogether far nicer than any student residence this writer ever lived in!

Philip Lund-Nielsen, Co-Founder and CCO of COBOD, said of the project: “Construction 3D printing builds affordable housing at scale, and this student village is the largest example of it in Europe so far. The students moving in benefit from lower rents, the buildings look fantastic, and we are glad to see it scaling.”

Now that the first students have moved into the 3D printed student village, 3DCP Group and SAGA Space Architects are looking forward to their next project, investigating new materials and production methods that can improve the efficiency and cost of building even more. “The technical breakthrough was not printing one successful structure,” added Mikkel Brich, Co-Founder and CEO of 3DCP Group. “It was repeating the process across six clusters while improving speed, maintaining accuracy, and integrating the printed elements with conventional building systems.”

While Skovsporet is being heralded as the largest 3D printed student residence in Europe, there are also other student apartments being built using construction 3D printing. In Canada, for instance, the University of Windsor is building a multi-story student residence using 3D printing; while in Texas, ICON printed a series of homes for the Texas A&M AgriLife Research station.