Branch Technology 3D Prints a “Backdrop for Innovation” for Chattanooga’s Enterprise Center

Last July, Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Branch Technology went public with their technology and products, which include full-sized 3D printed walls and other furniture pieces that were created using the world’s largest 3D printer and the patented Cellular Fabrication™ design method. Branch Technology made such an impression on people at GigTank’s Demo Day that they won the Investor’s Choice Award, an honor that bodes well for this new company as it introduces its unique designs to the world.

Flash forward to late October 2015, as Branch unveiled more information about its original design concepts for what it calls the “Backdrop for Innovation.” The company is building a 3D printed 100 sq. foot moving system of panels for the Enterprise Center, the heart of Chattanooga’s Innovation District. This moving system of panels, which takes design inspiration from Southern Tennessee’s own topology, is intended to “encourage innovators of the future to challenge all conventions, even the space they work in.”

Branch Technology recently held a display at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)’s Designers, Makers, Users: 3D Printing the Future exhibition. This wall exhibit was designed by KBAS architect Keith Kaseman, and it highlights Branch Technology’s patented freeform 3D printing power and the beauty of 3D printed scaffolding. At the time of this exhibition, the structure, called simply TN-01, was the tallest 3D printed structure in the Americas, standing at 18 feet. TN-01 has a 54 cubic feet volume and was printed using separate segments that were then assembled on site to create a magnificent and compelling sculpture. This exhibition was a huge success, and the company decided to continue displaying its talent by making aesthetically pleasing, futuristic-looking, movable wall panels to add to the Innovation District space. (Meanwhile Branch Technology awaits building code requirement testing and certifications for its interior wall products, too.)

The project for Chattanooga’s new Enterprise Center involves three different wall panels, as described in Branch Technology’s blog post about the project:

“Our prints serve as the basis for three movable partition walls that will be used in the Center to create dynamic spaces, allowing flexible options for teams developing transcendent ideas. The Innovation Center is set to be a beacon of creativity in Southern Tennessee, so it seemed fitting to use the geography of the region as the basis for the topology.”

Inspired by natural beauty, the use of local topology also allows Branch Technology to show how its 3D printing process is centered around “complete customization at scale.” Debuting during Chattanooga’s Startup Week in October, the walls are a perfect example of the type of designs we can learn to expect from Branch Technology, as it disrupts the literal scaffolding of old design ideas to introduce innovative new ways of organizing and using space for both functional and creative purposes.  What are your thoughts on this backdrop?  Let us know in the 3D Printed Wall forum thread on 3DPB.com.