Dubai may have found a way to make construction move even faster.
The Gulf commercial hub has announced plans to work with a Chinese company to add the world’s first office building made using 3D printer technology to its collection of eye-catching buildings.
” The project is part of a broader effort by the seven-state federation to embrace cutting-edge technology and make it a global hub for innovation.” Mohammed al-Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of cabinet affairs said.
He further said that the building was expected to be a testimony to the efficiency and creativity of 3D printing technology. The building is also expected to reshape construction and the design sector.
The approximately 186 square metre office building and furniture used inside will be printed out layer by layer from a mixture of reinforced concrete, gypsum and plastic using a 6-metre-tall 3D printer.
According to South China morning post, the project is a partnership with WinSun Global, a Chinese company which has begun assembling houses and other buildings made using 3D printers, and US architectural and engineering firms Gensler, Thornton Thomasetti and Syska Hennessy.
3D printing technology had the potential to cut building construction time and labour costs by at least half, and reduce construction waste by 30 per cent to 60 per cent, the Emirates’ statement said.
Officials plan to use the office as the temporary headquarters of a US$136 million “Museum of the Future” that is expected to open in 2017.
