News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Century Communities, one of the top US homebuilders and an industry leader in online sales, has launched its first community of 3D printed homes, under the Century Complete brand. The new homes infuse signature floor plans with smooth interior and exterior concrete composite walls that offer durability, sustainability, and noise reduction in a stylish yet traditional architectural package.
GUtech, the German University of Technology in Oman and a pioneer in construction 3D printing, completed the 3D printing of 3 new buildings in Duqm, 540 km from the capital of Oman, where GU Tech is located. The construction took just 8 days and it represents a performance nobody has matched before for this type of on-location 3D printing.
Approximately 200 miles north of San Francisco, surrounded by national forests, lies Redding with its population of 100,000. Not one of California’s most famous locations, the city was affected by the numerous forest fires that hit the city. Redding is experiencing more than 100 fires per year. The Redding area got hit the worst in 2018 in the Carr fire, where 1,100 houses were lost to the fires, 270 of these directly in the town of Redding. Neighboring Paradise lost more than 11,000 homes, causing damages of 16 billion USD and 85 fatalities.
Europe had it first 3-story 3D printed building made in Germany by PERI using COBOD technology in 2021, and now Asia also has one. While North America may lead the development in terms of the amount of new 3D printed buildings, Europe and The Middle East are clearly leading the way in the use of 3D construction printing technology to create larger and larger buildings. With its 9.9 meters in total height, the Dar Al Arkan villa in Saudi Arabia is the tallest on-site 3D printed building in the world.
CyBe, a global leader in 3D concrete printing with proprietary hardware, software, and printing materials, is collaborating with Lab040 in Eindhoven to create the first-ever, 3D printed, four-story apartment.
Borneo, known for its orangutans and other wildlife, is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, with more than an estimated 15,000 plant species found in its rainforests. Unexpectedly, this large Asian island now has its first 3D printed house – a testament to the technology’s potential and reach. In Sarawak, the Northern coastal part of Borneo, which is more urbanized than the rainforest-covered center, the large concrete pre-casting company Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad (SCIB) recently revealed the company’s first 3D printed demo house.
According to ITV News, the UK is expecting its first housing development – created using 3D construction printing (3DCP) technology – to be built in Lancashire. The eco-friendly homes, in Accrington, are expected to house homeless veterans and low-income families throughout 46 properties that can each be ‘printed’ in a matter of weeks.
Europe’s first 3D printed office extension has opened in Hausleiten, Austria. The project, first announced in October last year, is a result of a collaboration between the construction technology group STRABAG and the scaffolding and formwork manufacturer and 3D concrete printing pioneer, PERI. The building, printed with a BOD2, COBOD’s best-selling 3D construction printer, is a 125m² office extension to an existing building in Hausleiten.
The US and Canada have seen several single-story 3D printed buildings in recent years, but now Canadian 3D construction printing company, nidus3D, has finished the construction of the first two-story building in North America (in Ontario).
The city of Huntsville, AL, is a burgeoning technology town that is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as well as facilities for the Department of Defense. It is a community that is continuing to flourish. Downtown Huntsville is on the move with the redevelopment of Big Spring Park, which is home to new hotels, entertainment venues, and bars and restaurants. Part of that revitalization included renovations to the Monroe Street parking garage, across the street from the multi-purpose Von Braun Center. The parking garage provides event parking in the evenings and on weekends, and office workers use it during the weekdays. To achieve their goal of an attractive and dynamic façade for the garage that would make a bold statement, architects ultimately turned to Branch Technology and its game-changing approach to 3D printed facades for commercial construction.