The EPICentre MakerSpace team has worked alongside The Bridge to design, 3D print, and assemble a miniature replica model of a house. These homes are the first 3D-printed homes for residential use in Canada and the largest build of its kind in North America. The Bridge Youth Resource Centre is a youth-serving organization for individuals ages 14-24 where programming centres around education and job support, mental health and addiction services, life and coping skills, and social inclusion activities. The facility also supports those experiencing homelessness or housing instability through The Quiring Family Fresh Start supportive housing facility for youth 16-24. As a Tier Four award for donors who donate $50,000, a mini 3D replica of the homes being built are created and given to the donors as a keepsake. The MakerSpace team was tasked with the construction of these mini 3D replicas of the homes.

The Bridge came to the MakerSpace team with an idea. The idea was to make a mini 3D replica of the homes built in Leamington by The Bridge. The MakerSpace team was presented with the image of floor plan of these homes and were tasked with creating the 3D model. Using 3D CAD software, the MakerSpace team were able to design and scale different components of the mini replica of the homes. This included 3D designs of each different furniture/appliance, the windows and doors, and the main frame of the house. From these scaled designs, slicing software were used to prepare the program files suitable for 3D printing. It was followed by FDM & DLP 3D printing technologies to meet the requirements of The Bridge. Once all the pieces of the house were complete, the MakerSpace team got to work on assembling the house together and adding the finishing touches.

Like the replica of a home for The Bridge, MakerSpace has had many projects in the past requested of them by students, faculty members, and the business community. The EPICentre MakerSpace is a collaborative and interactive place where anyone that has an idea can meet up with the MakerSpace team to work on their design using equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutting/engraving machines, Arduinos and more. The space also hosts events and workshops that educate attendees on different topics and the equipment in the room.  Discover more by visiting the MakerSpace. The overall project also involved the University and was led by Habitat for Humanity!