Archinect - News

Holcim and Zaha Hadid Architects team debuts second 3D printed concrete bridge concept

2024-01-14T08:00:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has released details of a second collaborative effort with Holcim on a 3D printed bridge concept that was first debuted as part of the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.

The new ten-ton Phoenix design offers an evolution of the innovations seen in the previous Striatus bridge, the original blocks of which the team was able to recycle in the second iteration.

Image: Vincent Delesvaux

For the project, Holcim was able to deliver Phoenix with a 25% overall reduction in CO2 footprint compared to its earlier counterpart, thanks to the use of an updated ECOCycle circular technology and a special proprietary concrete ink that was also developed by the company. The construction was completed recently in Lyon, France, on the grounds of Holcim’s Innovation Hub. Its proponents are now citing it as a milestone for the design industry’s quest to develop low-carbon structural solutions at different scales.

Image: Holcim

Shajay Bhooshan, head of Zaha Hadid Architects' Computati...

An industry expert discusses what’s holding back the use of 3D printing in commercial construction

2023-02-06T08:45:00-05:00

While the government has doled out grant money to research 3D printing capabilities in space, and several proof-of-concept projects from bridges to Army barracks have garnered headlines, the applied use of 3D printing in commercial construction remains nascent. Patti Harburg-Petrich, principal in the Los Angeles office of U.K.-based engineering firm Buro Happold, says the real culprit is likely one that all new building innovations are forced to navigate: the building code itself.

Harburg-Petrich pointed to the limitations of rebar on a recent design-build she advised at Woodbury University as evidence of the negative influence of building code restrictions, even in research and development. She also predicted airport design to be a potential growth sector and said the technology could perhaps be better applied to individual project components like (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) MEPs as it currently stands.

“If you can take advantage of industrialized construction and still be able to produce something that is bespoke, that leads toward a much faster pace of adoption,” she told Construction Dive. “If you can do something with less material, or put the pieces together faster, there are all kinds of cost savings right there, and all sorts of non-monetary benefits as well. “

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Habitat for Humanity builds its first 3D-printed house in the U.S.

2021-06-15T10:21:00-04:00

Habitat for Humanity is progressing on their first 3D-printed home in the United States. Overseen by Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona, the single-story home is currently under construction in the city of Tempe, Arizona. The global housing non-profit sees the project as an important step in their future for delivering affordable housing across the country.

Image: Habitat for Humanity

The home is being built using a combination of 3D printing and traditional construction. Between 70-80% of the home will be 3D printed, including the internal and external walls, all using a Build on Demand Printer (BOD 2) shipped from Germany-based PERI Group. The printer works in three dimensions, with an XY axis allowing horizontal construction, and a raising and lowering of the printing frame to allow vertical construction. This gantry principle allows the printer to move into any position within the structure to build inner and outer walls layer-by-layer.

Image: Habitat for Humanity

Health and...

Czech 3D-printed floating house is now complete

2020-07-01T11:50:00-04:00

Recently covered on Archinect, PRVOK (Protozoon), a Czech 3D-printed floating house has been completed in České Budějovice. The entire structure, including the interior partitions, was printed in 22 hours and required a total of 17 tons of concrete mixture. PRVK is now going through a series of tests to ensure proper performance. Static pressure, for example, has been tested which concluded that the internal load-bearing wall of the home can withstand a 50-ton load, according to the development team.

Photo by Kateřina Nováková.

Rendering of bathroom. r.

"Despite minor issues caused by the weather, we managed to 3D-print the house successfully. It took us 22 hours in total and we needed 17 tons of custom-developed mixture. As the concrete will take 28 days to harden, we are completing the house, preparing the green roof, floors, all distributions, doors, windows, etc," said sculptor and project leader Michal Trpák in a statement.

Renderings courtesy of Buřinka.

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3D-printed stadium created by FIU students helped Florida police prepare for the Super Bowl

2020-02-03T11:58:00-05:00

In preparation for yesterday's Super Bowl, the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) utilized a highly detailed 3D-printed model of the Hard Rock Stadium. The model was created by students at Florida International University's (FIU) College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts along with the school's Robotics and Digital Fabrication Lab.

Measuring 4' x 5', the model intricately shows the stadium's bleachers, hallways, exits, rooms, and even structural elements. It can be separated and reconfigured, allowing viewers to focus in on focal areas of interest. In total the printing took over 3,500 hours and was the result of months examining digital documentation of the stadium, walkthroughs, and calibration and programming of the printers.

“This was something unique, for FIU and MDPD, the creation of a physical model to use in training,” said Professor Shahin Vassigh, Director of the RDF Lab in a statement. “It’s not necessarily the scale that is unique – architects make models for d...

"World's largest 3D-printed building" springs up in Dubai

2019-12-03T17:36:00-05:00

3D printing equipment manufacturer Apis Cor recently built a two-story administrative office building for a Dubai government agency using one mobile printer. Standing at 31 feet tall with an area of 6,889 square feet, the building's walls were printed while the insulation, roof, foundation and windows were installed using traditional building methods...

According to Smart Cities Dive, "the company's proprietary printing mixture consists of off-the-shelf materials like sand, cement, gypsum, and other proprietary components..." The challenge ultimately becomes creating the right blend of materials in relation to the local climate.

The country's Dubai 3D Printing Strategy aims to ensure that all new buildings there are at least 25% 3D printed by 2025, Smart Cities Dive reports.

3D-print companies are paving their own path in the housing market

2019-07-15T18:53:00-04:00

Some have speculated it could be the solution to the country’s affordable housing crisis by providing a quick infusion of lower-priced homes in areas starved for housing inventory. Some affordable housing experts, however, caution that the technology is not a panacea.

We've all seen videos of a giant robotic arm assembling layers of material which would later turn into a completed home 12-24 hours later. Some companies are imagining how this type of technology could impact homelessness and affordable housing. Although 3D-printed homes are a favorable alternative, why has the housing industry remained slow in adopting this building method? According to a Politico Magazine piece written by Shawna Chen, the gap between housing development and 3D manufacturing could be closing.

New Story and ICON's first 3D-printed home model in Austin, TX. Image © New Story

Dee Walsh the chief officer of strategic development for Mercy Housing shares with Chen, "The cost to build housing and the amount of subsidy or low-cost financing available to make it affordable—there’s a gap there,” Walsh said. “We don’t have enough subsidy and soft financing to make traditional housing affordable. … The low markets are probably around $150,000 to $200,000 a unit; that would be...

World's largest 3D printer to speed up Saudi housing construction

2019-03-18T19:59:00-04:00

Danish 3D printing construction company COBOD International has sold a BOD2 to Saudi Arabian construction company Elite for Construction & Development Co. The BOD2, reportedly the biggest construction 3D printer in the world, will be delivered to Elite by the end of May, 2019. Elite placed the order of the BOD2 from COBOD in order to fulfil Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to improve the country’s economy and housing through pillars of innovations, i.e., modern construction techniques.

COBOD states the printing speed of its new BOD2 system at 18 meters (59 feet) per minute. Image: COBOD.

"The BOD2 3D printer can print buildings with measurements of 12m in width, 27m in length and 9m in height," reports 3D Printing Industry. "COBOD also claim that the machine can produce three storey buildings in one go, with each storey capable of being more than 300 square meters in length."

Foster+Partners | Branch Technology, win NASA's 3D Printed Habitat Challenge

2017-09-05T13:23:00-04:00

The 3D Printed Habitat Challenge—NASA's three-phase, $2.5 million competition—tasks architecture firms to generate and advance the construction technologies necessary for off-world habitats. Each stage of the challenge asks the teams to design and test an individual prototypical building element that can be 3D printed within a 22-hr time frame, while considering material restraints, geometric tolerances and autonomous performance.

Final printed dome. Image courtesy of Foster + Partners.

Foster+Partners and Branch Technology have teamed up to win the latest round of competition. The firm has been tasked with producing three beams, three cylinders, and a 1.5-meter dome out of indigenous Martian regolith and recyclable materials. Their cylinder designs took first place back in May as did their 3D printed beams. They have now won the last segment of the head-to-head competition with their domed structure that was able to take double the load of a competing concrete dome in the stress tes...

In 24 hours, get a 3D-printed house that will last 175 years

2017-03-07T12:40:00-05:00

Although it's unclear when the furnishing/window and door fitting process takes place, one thing is certain: you can now have the basic components of an entire 400 square foot house printed in about a day from the company Apis Cor. Aside from being speedy, the $10,000 printing process is impressive because the house is printed using only one machine, instead of a multi-component process that requires wall assembly. In this slightly bizarre promotional video (featuring notable speakers including a student, identified only by first name without any kind of school affiliation) the 3D printed houses are envisioned as being great solutions for providing fast relief from natural disasters. Since they're designed to last 175 years, it makes one wonder if these curvy domiciles could become a kind of inadvertent historical marker of previous catastrophes. Check it out:

Earth's first 3D printed office created in 17 days for half the labor cost

2016-05-25T12:36:00-04:00

A very large 3D printer measuring 20 x 120 x 40 ft (6 x 36 x 12 m) did most of the work, printing the building by extruding a cement mixture layer by layer, in a similar method by which WinSun's 3D-printed homes were made (WinSun is involved in this project too). There were also some additional smaller mobile 3D-printers used too, however. It took 17 days to print the basic building, but it then required finishing both internally and externally.

How many people does it take to 3D print an office? Well, according to Arabian Business, "The labour involved in the printing process included one staff to monitor the function of the printer, in addition to a group of seven people to install the building components on site as well as a team of 10 electricians and specialists to take care of the mechanical and electrical engineering." Also: the building was completed in 17 days, and saved 50% on labor costs when compared to traditional built projects of a similar size.

Located in Dubai's Emirates Towers complex, the 250 square meter office was installed on its site in two days.

For more on innovations in large-scale 3D printing: