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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... View full entry
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.
— Construction Dive
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... — Smart Cities Dive
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... View full entry
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. — Politico Magazine
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... View full entry
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.
— 3D Printing Industry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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.
— Gizmag
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... View full entry