Construction of “Europe’s largest 3D-printed building” in Germany takes just 140 hours

Record ID: 1723610

  • Title: Construction of “Europe’s largest 3D-printed building” in Germany takes just 140 hours
  • Date: 8th May 2023
  • Summary: HEIDELBERG, GERMANY (MAY 5, 2023) (REUTERS) BUILDING CREATED BY 3D PRINTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION AS ROBOT PILES LAYERS OF CONCRETE ON TOP OF EACH OTHER TOP VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION SITE HOSE FILLED WITH CONCRETE BEING LOWERED ROBOT ARM MOVING SIDEWAYS BEFORE PILING LAYER OF CONCRETE ONTO WALL UNDER CONSTRUCTION TWO WORKERS CHECKING PROGRESS ON LAPTOP SCREEN ROBOT PILING CONCRETE TOP VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION SITE ROBOT PILING CONCRETE VARIOUS OF CONCRETE WALL TRACKING VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKER CHECKING LAPTOP SCREEN TRACKING VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION SITE KRAUS GRUPPE CEO, HANS-JOERG KRAUS, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (German) KRAUS GRUPPE CEO, HANS-JOERG KRAUS, SAYING: "We are printing this 55 meter long, 11 meter wide and 9 meter high building in just 140 working hours. All this is happening with just two people at the construction site. It’s just the two of them, sometimes three. It’s very innovative. At a later stage it’s imaginable that there is just one person at the construction site to make sure nothing goes wrong.” TWO WHITE HARD HATS ON CONCRETE WALL ROBOT PILING CONCRETE (SOUNDBITE) (German) KRAUS GRUPPE CEO, HANS-JOERG KRAUS, SAYING: “I am convinced that 3D printing has a bright future. At the same time we should not believe that in future, everything will be built with 3D printing. Rather, we are trying to determine here whether this is a future-oriented product and what for what kind of future-oriented product. We have chosen a very special architecture here which resembles a curtain. There are also 18 degree overhangs which is impossible to build with conventional means. For such buildings, the 3D printer is predestined. But it’s clear that not everything being built in the next 20 years will come from a 3D printer.” DETAILS OF BUILDING WITH WHITE HARD HATS ON THEM ROBOT PILING CONCRETE WORKER WALKING ACROSS CONSTRUCTION SITE ROBOT PILING CONCRETE WORKER LOOKING AT LAPTOP / CONSTRUCTION SITE IN BACKGROUND DETAIL OF WALL WORKER WALKING NEAR WALL
  • Embargoed: 22nd May 2023 12:29
  • Keywords: 3D printer Europe's largest Heidelberg Kraus Gruppe building construction house
  • Location: HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
  • City: HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA001076608052023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: “Europe’s largest 3D-printed building” according to its developer is currently under construction in the southern German city of Heidelberg where only two workers were required to oversee the project.
    The work normally carried out by dozens of construction workers is done by a gigantic robot which piles layers and layers of concrete on top of each other, based on the architect’s scale.
    „We are printing this 55 meter (180 ft.) long, 11 meter (36 ft.) wide and 9 meter (29 ft.) high building in just 140 working hours,” said developer Hans-Joerg Kraus.
    “At a later stage it’s imaginable that there is just one person at the construction site to make sure nothing goes wrong,” said Kraus, standing at the site in Heidelberg which will house a computer server centre once completed.
    Asked whether this was the future for the construction business, Kraus expressed confidence that “3D printing has a bright future. At the same time we should not believe that in future, everything will be built with 3D printing.”
    He and his team is currently evaluating options for other construction projects using 3D technology and some, as the Heidelberg server centre, are “predestined.”
    “We have chosen a very special architecture here which resembles a curtain.
    There are also 18 degree overhangs which is impossible to build with conventional means.”
    “But it’s clear that not everything being built in the next 20 years will come from a 3D printer,” said Kraus.
    In 2015, Dutch architects used a giant 3D printer to construct a prototype house in a bid to pave the way to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly future for construction.
    The house structure by DUS Architects of Amsterdam used a plastic heavily based on plant oil.
    Also in 2015, Chinese firm WinSun displayed at the Suzhou Industrial Park a five-storey apartment building and a 1100 square meter villa it said it had 3D printed using recycled materials. But the at the time was in its infancy.
    (Production: Max Schwarz, Frank Simon, Michele Sani)
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