By, Liz Clearman
If you’ve ever watched a 3D printer at work, it’s pretty amazing technology. My daughter used to have a 3D printing pen where she could design whatever she wanted just by pushing a button that forced out a thin, plastic thread (this process is called filament deposition modeling or FDM, where the plastic is melted and then hardens into whatever shape it’s “printed” into). You might have even seen some of the bigger 3D printers in various SBISD schools, and heard about human body parts — yes, ears, kidneys, livers, blood vessels, skin, and bones — produced by medical professionals and scientists using special 3D bioprinters. The possibilities are endless, and the proof is in our backyard.
Printing began back in September 2022 in Spring Branch on the country’s first-ever multi-story 3D printed structure. This two-years-in-the-making project is a major collaboration by HANNAH, an experimental design and research studio working across scales from furniture to urbanism; PERI 3D Construction, a firm that aims to revolutionize construction with 3D printing technology; CIVE, an upscale design-build firm specializing in top-down building processes driven by value engineering; architectural designers and assistant professors from the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University; and other building industry partners.
Quikrete, the largest manufacturer of packaged concrete in the United States, was selected for their new generation of specially formulated 3D printable concrete, while Huntsman Building Solutions’ research and development team brings their closed-cell foam insulation system to the house. The hybridized construction uses Simpson Strong-Tie’s anchoring systems for both the 3D-printed elements and wood connections, and Toshiba Carrier’s state-of-the-art Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology is the basis for an efficient HVAC system that can translate to larger-scale housing and multifamily construction.
The entire design of the house, which is a series of printed cores that contain functional spaces and stairs, is a scalable design and construction process approved for both multifamily housing and mixed-use construction using the COBOD BOD2 gantry printer. With a new hybrid approach that will help revolutionize the future of housing, the 4000-square-foot structure will showcase the possibilities of 3D printing technology, mass customization, and design solutions that also integrate conventional construction methods such as wood framing combined with concrete 3D printing.
You can read more about each firm on their respective websites: hannah-office.org
“For the design of the project, we developed a hybrid construction approach that couples innovations in concrete 3D printing with traditional wood framing techniques to create a building system that is structurally efficient, easily replicable, and materially responsive.The project also highlights the exciting design potential of mass-customized architectural components to meet homeowners’ needs and to simplify building system integration. These design efforts aim to increase the impact, applicability, sustainability, and cost efficiency of 3D printing for future residential and multi-family buildings in the U.S.”
— Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic of HANNAH.
“We are incredibly proud to not only showcase the possibilities of the BOD2 3D construction printer but also our extensive know-how in planning, engineering, and printing on this project, which is the seventh and largest one we printed so far. We are convinced that it will set new standards from a design as well as printing execution perspective and underlines our role as the forerunner for this new construction technique.”
— Fabian Meyre-Broetz, CEO of PERI 3D Construction.
“Having the opportunity to be the engineers and general contractor for the first multi-story 3D printed structure in the U.S. has been an honor. We can see how this technology and our team’s approach is providing the scalability to larger commercial developments. Collectively, we’re changing the way our country builds, and paving the way for more affordable housing, higher structural integrity, and faster building capabilities. The possibilities of 3D printing are endless!”
— Hachem Domloj, CIVE president.