Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) teamed up with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to design and build the world’s largest 3-D–printed polymer building. The single-room structure was conceived as part of AMIE , or the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy demonstration project, an effort between government and industry leaders to build and operate energy-saving structures, according to a SOM release .

The 38-by-12-by-13-foot structure’s additively manufactured, or 3-D–printed, shell of C-shape forms was assembled at Clayton Homes, which is the nation’s largest manufactured home builder. Steel rods reinforce the weak axis of the printed components. The structure includes low-cost vacuum-insulated panels , which are a fraction of the thickness of fiberglass or other insulation materials. A GE-developed central microkitchen includes digital display screens, inductive cooking surfaces, a waste-filtering faucet and sinks, and an undercounter refrigerator, according to SOM .

The building is powered by a car, or, more specifically, it employs two-way wireless power sharing between a 3-D–printed vehicle designed by Oak Ridge.

The AMIE program is an outcome of the Governor’s Chair for Energy and Urbanism, a five-year collaboration between Oak Ridge, SOM, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s College of Architecture and Design. The effort aims to find a sustainable balance between urban growth and the environment. The structure also demonstrates possibilities for off-the-grid living.