It’s been kind of quiet in the sphere of 3D printing of buildings lately, but the new project recently completed in Dubai definitely shows promise for the concept. The structure is called the Office of the Future and the project was started back in 2015. And now, the world’s first 3D printed office is completed and ready for use.
The Office of the Future has a footprint of 2,690 sq ft (250 sq m), and is located inside the Emirates Towers complex in Dubai. To construct it, they used a large 3D printer, which measures 20 x 120 x 40 ft (6 x 36 x 12 m). It was used to print the building by extruding a cement mixture layer by layer. The project was completed in collaboration with WinSun, a firm that already has successfully printed houses under its belt. They also used several smaller, mobile 3D units to finish the office.
It took mere 17 days to print the office, but finishing the structure internally and externally took longer. It also seems like the parts needed to construct the office were actually printed off-site, then transported and assembled on-site. While the exact price of this project wasn’t made public, the Dubai government claims that the costs were about half of what they would be had the structure been built using traditional methods.
Labor costs were also very low, since only a single staff member was needed to monitor the printing process. They did hire seven people to erect the building, as well as ten electricians and other specialists who took care of the technical aspects of the construction.
Dubai and the United Arab Emirates wish to become world leaders in 3D printing, and The Office of the Future is just the first of many projects they wish to tackle. Their plan is to focus on 3D printing in the fields of construction, as well as creating medical and consumer products. It will certainly be interesting to follow their progress.