Dubai is no stranger to doing historic things in the construction industry, especially since it houses the World’s Tallest Building, the Burj Khalifa. This time, their putting themselves back into the news with the Word’s first completely 3D printed office building.
The 2,000 square foot office building will be built near Dubai’s ‘Museum of the Future,’ which is an incubator for ideas and technological advances in the world of innovation and design; the building was also partially built by 3D printing. When we say “completely 3D printed,” we’re not just talking about the walls of the building, we’re talking about the detailing, structural components, and even the furniture.
The video below shows a simulation walk-through of the incredible hollow oval shaped Museum of the Future:
The building will be built by a gigantic 20’ tall 3D printer layer by layer, owned and operated by Chinese 3D printing firm, WinSun. The management team behind the project is expecting the printing and on-site assembly to take “a matter of weeks.” 3D printing has been all the rage recently and, with expected reduction of production times of 50-70%, reduced labor costs of 50%-80%, and reduced construction waste of 30%-60%, it’s not hard to believe.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has declared 2015 a Year of Innovation, hoping to make the region a leader in world innovation. This project is just one example of the impact they hope to make.
The Chairman of the UAE National Innovation Committee, Mohammed Al Gergawi, said in a press release: "This building will be a testimony to the efficiency and creativity of 3D printing technology, which we believe will play a major role in reshaping construction and design sectors. We aim to take advantage of this growth by becoming a global hub for innovation and 3D printing. This is the first step of many more to come."
Dubau to Build World’s First 3D Printed Office | Museum of the Future
3D printed construction has been on top of the news the past few years, but we have yet to truly see many real world applications of the process. Last year, Dubai unveiled a completed 3D printed office building, which they say was built in only 19 days, but news has been pretty slow until the world’s first 3D printed bridge was completed recently.