Cazza Technologies has announced plans to construct the world’s first 3D printed skyscraper in Dubai. The design group was founded last year with the aim of using 3D printing for construction. However, at the time they were quite secretive about their plans.
According to Construction Week, Cazza Technologies will now make use of a new technique they refer to as “crane printing.” With this they hope to revolutionize the way 3D printing is used in construction.
Currently, 3D printing has been used to construct smaller structures using concrete. For example, Apis Cor just 3D printed a small house in 24 hours. As of yet, Cazza Technologies has not constructed a 3D printed building.
From houses to skyscrapers
The idea of using 3D printing to construct skyscrapers is not necessarily new. New York-based company Arconics revealed their concept of a 3D printed skyscraper that could eat smog. Chris Kelsey, Cazza CEO, explained their transition to skyscrapers as,
When we first thought of implementing 3D printing technologies, we were mostly thinking of houses and low-rise buildings. Developers kept asking us if it was possible to build a 3D printed skyscraper. This led us to begin researching how we could adapt the technologies for taller structures,
The Design group has reportedly found the solution in crane printing. Which will also address Dubai’s plans to have 25% of buildings 3D printed by 2030. The crane printed structures would be a minimum of 80 meters high according to Cazza.
Crane printing
Fernando De Los Rios, COO at Cazza, spoke about their process,
The crane printing system can be easily adopted with existing cranes which means we don’t have to build cranes from scratch. We are adding new features to make it adaptable to high wind speeds along with the use of our layer smoothing system that creates completely flat surfaces. You won’t know its 3D printed.
Reportedly, this process will use both concrete and steel materials and will be able to 3D print reinforcing steel bars. Further details of Cazza’s 3D printed skyscraper plans are unknown at this point.
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Featured image shows construction in Dubai. Image via Emirates Rebar Limited.
