Heidelberg: 3D-printed house

DW (English)

In Heidelberg, Europe's biggest 3D-printed building is under construction: using additive concrete. The pros: fewer workers are needed and the procedure is supposed to be more climate friendly. Are 3D printers the construction workers of the future?

Transcript

00:00 This machine does the work of several construction workers.

00:04 It lays down the concrete in layers and can build four square meters of wall per hour.

00:10 That's how Europe's largest 3D printed building is being constructed,

00:14 an industrial building without windows.

00:17 Site manager Shike Ezeugwu from Nigeria, who studied in Germany, is happy with the progress.

00:28 When you talk about sophisticated buildings like this,

00:30 where you have this type of architecture, where you have a wavy architecture and all that,

00:36 and you have to create a special type of formwork for this,

00:39 then we are more than three times faster than conventional buildings.

00:43 There's enough concrete in the silo to last for two days.

00:49 It travels from the hose into the nozzle that runs along a track.

00:54 The process isn't just faster, it also needs less material and fewer workers.

01:00 And it's cleaner than on conventional construction sites.

01:05 All we need to build this beautiful building you are seeing here is just three people.

01:11 One person that operates the printer, one person that operates the mixing machine,

01:16 and one person that just works around, makes sure everything is good,

01:20 puts the anchors and does other little things, which is basically what I do.

01:24 As construction site manager, Ezeugwu is responsible for checking the concrete mixer.

01:30 He also takes care of office work on his smartphone.

01:34 It's a much more relaxed atmosphere than on other sites.

01:38 At intervals, they attach anchors to support the double walls.

01:42 His colleague monitors the 3D printer on the computer screen.

01:46 But how does the 3D printer know what to print?

01:49 So basically the process is that the architect designs the building with our help.

01:56 You know, we tell him this is what is possible, this is what is not possible.

02:00 Then after the design, he gives us the step file.

02:04 That is the step file, which is more like a centerline design of the building.

02:09 Then we will slice it with a slicer.

02:13 We will send the step file to a slicer, then we slice it,

02:16 and then we get a G-code, then we send it to the printer, and then we start to print.

02:21 Pehle, a German company, constructed the building with a BOD2 3D printer made by the Danish company Cobod.

02:31 The structure's cement ceilings are being poured conventionally and are supported until the concrete dries.

02:40 It takes six months to build the building.

02:43 54 meters long, 11 meters wide and 9 meters high.

02:47 The building doesn't require any windows because it will only house computer servers.

02:52 The architect Jan Volkmann has designed the largest and highest 3D printed building ever.

03:00 It's made possible through the use of steel girders, a new development in 3D printer construction.

03:10 The special attraction is that you can experiment with this construction method

03:15 and find out exactly what you can create within the guidelines of some very simple architectural requirements.

03:20 That's not possible with any other technology, and that's what drove us.

03:25 The owner and developer is a real estate agent who wanted to build something new and innovative on the landmark site.

03:32 The price was high, so he needed to know that it would generate a profit.

03:39 We invested a total of 2.5 million euros here, including the land,

03:44 and I can't tell you what it would have cost if we had built conventionally,

03:48 because we switched to 3D printing relatively quickly.

03:51 I just wanted to know, can I make it economically viable with 3D printing?

03:56 And I did.

03:58 The site manager also has to do some work by hand,

04:03 especially the places where the printer stops and starts.

04:06 He might have to make small corrections, but he doesn't ever want to go back to conventional construction.

04:12 I really don't think I will be moving back to the conventional construction site.

04:18 I mean, nobody knows the future, but I really believe that 3D printing will grow and grow higher,

04:26 and then with this, I think I will remain with 3D printing.

04:31 Building with 3D printers is rapidly moving out of the experimental phase and into the commercial market.

04:38 As for Chikeize Ugu, he and his 3D printer have enough construction contracts for the next two years.

04:48 [Music]

04:52 (upbeat music)

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