News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Presented in 2021, the Tor Alva – White Tower («Weisser Turm») is an over 24-meter tall building that is 3D printed using concrete extrusion. Designed for Fundaziun Origen, the tower offers space for art installations and for music and theater performances. Visitors ascend a spiral staircase through a series of colonnades to reach the stage of the high, vaulted hall on the top floor.
A new study from Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, shows how a hydrogel material made of nanocellulose and algae can be used as an alternative, greener architectural material. The abundant material can be 3D printed into a wide array of architectural components – using much less energy than conventional construction methods.
In an initial proof of concept, voxeljet and ParaStruct GmbH have successfully tested the 3D printing of recyclable residual materials from the construction industry. For this purpose, voxeljet’s binder jetting 3D printing technology was used. The material tested was the Ecomould material set from Parastruct GmbH. This material set consists of biogenic production residues from the construction industry and a mineral binder, which was developed by the Austrian start-up.
3DXB Group, a leading UAE construction 3D printing company, has reportedly achieved a Guinness World Record for the largest 3D printed villa, located in the Al Awir 1 area of Dubai. The company created the four-meter-high, 303-square-meter residential villa in one seamless printing session.
Australian 3D construction printing technology company, Luyten 3D, has entered a partnership with the University of New South Wales to design and build one of the world’s most advanced 3D printed owner-occupier homes in Australia. The property will be built in Melbourne over the next few months and it will be used to showcase the benefits of building homes and other structures using 3D printing technology.
Alquist 3D has entered a newly penned 3D printed construction technology partnership with Aims Community College of Greeley, in Colorado. The Board of Trustees of Aims Community College voted unanimously to approve construction of the Aims Workforce Innovation Center (AWIC) on the College’s main campus, at which Alquist 3D will be the master tenant. It will serve as a research and development facility for the company and will also enable the college to train students interested in entering the field of 3D construction printing through an innovative codeveloped curriculum.
AKF, the large Danish real estate developer, in partnership with Danish 3DCP Group, and Saga Space Architects, has 3D printed a low CO2 concrete community building in the greater Copenhagen area measuring 72m² (775 SF). The building was created using a COBOD BOD2 printer and will house a gym, guest room, and common laundry facility for residents.
Mighty Buildings, a 3D printing construction technology company known for its prefabricated, environmentally friendly, and climate-resilient homes, along with partners led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), has been awarded a $5 million GFO-22-305 grant from the California Energy Commission. The funding supports the partners’ work to develop, test, and demonstrate zero-carbon or near-zero-carbon, cost-effective, modular, and manufactured homes in Bay Point, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, that can be readily deployed, particularly in under-resourced communities.
Holcim, a 3D concrete printing company, has recently completed the ‘Phoenix’ bridge – building on the success of Striatus, an award-winning 3D concrete printed bridge presented at the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture. The company’s collaboration with renowned partners such as Block Research Group at ETH Zurich, Zaha Hadid Architects Computation and Design Group, and incremental3D has been pivotal in exploring scalable sustainable infrastructure solutions through Phoenix.
Hive3D Builders, a Texas-based construction company, has 3D concrete printed the ‘Las Casitas’ rental units in the old town of Round Top, in Texas. The newest addition brings an interesting dynamism to the town – with the new-age buildings contrasting with the rest of the traditional architecture, including historic buildings, and antique and vintage stores, of the town.