Heijmans Contest Seeks the 3D Printed Wall Cladding of the Future

Heijmans is a construction company from the Netherlands, and together with 3D print luminaries DUS Architects and 3D Hubs, they’re sponsoring a 3D print contest.

You may be familiar with Heijmans from the company’s collaborations with 3D Print Canal House and the MX3D Bridge in Amsterdam. All those projects are at the forefront of 3D printed and AM architectural practice, and they include some of the most famous names in that practice.

While you may have already designed your own car, bicycle or shoes online with the requisite patterns, materials and colors which ideally suit your personal taste, Heijmans and DUS Architects are on the hunt for innovators capable of designing and 3D printing a customized “wall cladding of the future.”

“We are looking for innovators that can design and 3D print the 3D printed wall cladding of the future,” says Alma Krug, the Business Development Manager at Heijmans. “What would this look like? Which materials, structures and colors form the perfect combination?”

The process of entering the contest is fairly straightforward. Participants download the basic tile, make their own design, 3D print it, and send it to Heijmans.

The winner receives a one by one meter façade element of their creation which will be printed on the Kamermaker 3D printer by 3D Print Canal House. The winner also receives a package of 3D print material worth €250. The contest will be judged by a blue ribbon panel of 3D print experts, but the public will also select a design favorite of their own who will also receive a package of 3D print material worth €250.

The professional jury–Hans Vermeulen of DUS Architects; Tim Geurtjens of MX3D and the Joris Laarman Lab; Filemon Schöffer of 3D Hubs; Salomé Galjaard of ARUP; and Krug of Heijmans–will review the entries and select the winning design.

The competition runs from September 1 to September 30, 2015, and the winners will be announced on October 14.

In addition, Heijmans will reimburse entrants to the tune of €15 per printed design, and the refund will come in the form of a payment for ColorFabb material or costs incurred at 3D Hubs.

The rules are fairly straightforward as well; design a façade element to fit a 15 x 15 cm tile, 3D print the design and post it or have the design 3D printed at the 3D Hubs network in the Den Bosch district of the Netherlands, and wait for the professional jury and the public to select the winners.

The hashtag on Twitter and Instagram for the project is #3DPrintFacade, and if you have more detailed questions you can check out 3D Hubs or contact the sponsors at 3dprintfacade@heijmans.nl.

Will you enter this contest to design the 3D printed architectural wall cladding of the future? Let us know in the Heijmans Wall Cladding Contest forum thread on 3DPB.com.