3D Printhuset works fast – or it may be more accurate to say the company’s 3D printers work fast. In early September, 3D Printhuset began construction on what would be the first 3D printed building in Europe to meet European building codes, hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony shortly thereafter. The Building On Demand, or BOD, would be a small office hotel 3D printed by 3D Printhuset’s self-developed concrete 3D printers. The BOD was designed by architect Ana Goidea, who incorporated curved walls and a ripple effect to better illustrate the design freedom that 3D printing allows.
Now 3D Printhuset has announced that 3D printing on the BOD is complete. Although the building was completed quickly in comparison to a traditional construction project, there were a few snags that kept it from being finished as soon as 3D Printhuset wanted – they were hoping for only a few weeks.
“Realizing the delay we have had, perhaps we were too optimistic with our planning,” said Henrik Lund-Nielsen, CEO at 3D Printhuset. “However, it is very difficult to plan for problems that you have never tried before. This was the first time anybody applied this technology in Europe. Therefore it would also have been somewhat surprising, had it turned out that we had become world champions at it the first time we tried it. That said, we did manage to do what we set out to do and to make this demonstration project showing the usability of the technology. We are very proud that we managed that.”
The problems weren’t related to the 3D printing process itself, but rather happened in other areas, which required that the 3D printing be put on hold.
“The 3D printing went as we planned,” said Jakob Jørgensen, CTO of 3D Printhuset. “Not counting the hours and days where the printer was standing still awaiting other problems to be solved, it only took the planned 50 hours to do the printing of the walls, but we had severe difficulties with the whole material handling prior to printing which delayed us. We were hit both by faulty material deliveries as well as equipment failures related to the material handling.”
The BOD is 3D printed from a special eco-friendly concrete made of recycled tiles and sand, developed in partnership with Force Institute. The entire building has been designed to be as green as possible, with recycled insulation and minimal waste generated thanks to the use of 3D printing.
On November 30, 3D Printhuset will hold a conference to discuss in detail its experience on the project, what went wrong and what went right. Leading construction companies from around the world will be present; in fact, it’s the largest 3D printing construction conference ever to be held, with 240 attendees and 15 speakers. Those attendees include Behrokh Khoshnevis, creator of Contour Crafting, as well as representatives from companies like Winsun, Cazza Construction, Apis Cor, CyBe Construction, Xtreee and more. Those attending the conference will have a chance to visit the BOD.
“We were planning to be complete with the whole building and all installations on November 30, but that is no longer realistic,” said Lund-Nielsen. “However, we have actually progressed so much that the attendees will be able to inspect the result of the application of the 3D printing technology, and then it matters less that the building has not been painted, is still missing a kitchen, toilet and other sanitary installations. We welcome all and look forward to sharing our results of this demonstration project.”
The conference is free to attend. If you’re interested in going, you can sign up here.
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[Images provided by 3D Printhuset]
