World's Largest 3D Printed Building - Dubai's Municipality Building

As verified by the Guinness Books of World Records, Dubai is now home to the world’s largest 3D-printed building. The project used just 3 workers and a 3D printer for the whole construction. The building was constructed by a US company Apis Cor.

World's Largest 3D Printed Building - Dubai's Municipality Building 
Source: Apis Cor

The project is a 3D-printed office building, Dubai Municipality Office. This is an initiative aimed to construct 25 % of Dubai’s buildings with 3D printing technology by 2030. 3D printing technologies saves the construction cost by 50 to 70 % and labor costs by 50 to 80% in addition to reducing the construction waste production.

Details of 3D Printed Dubai Municipality Office

The world’s largest 3D printed building is a two-storey integrated building with a height of 9.5 m and a total area of 640 sq.m. The building possesses different curves and shapes that was an attempt to test the capability and flexibility of 3D printing for various designs.

Apis Cor, the first company to develop specialized equipment for 3D printing in the construction industry, completed the 3D printed wall structures of a two-story administrative building for the Dubai Municipality.

Source: Apis Cor

Before the construction, Dubai municipality had carried out several tests and experiments on the material used in printing to ensure that the material is fit for smooth and consistent pumping of the printer. They were also tested for quality, consistency and strength.

Amazing Characteristics of 3D Printed Dubai Municipality Office

Apis Cor used its own 3D printing material made out of concrete, gypsum and proprietary materials. The façade is made up of multiple stacked layers printed by the machine. The materials used for 3D printing for Dubai municipality office have the following characteristics:

1. Meet sustainability requirements

2. Meet green building standards

3. Efficient insulation system

4. Increase utilization of voids inside wall

5. Improves thermal insulation of building

6. Reduce energy consumption

Construction of World's Largest 3D Printed Building

The 3D printed walls were placed on concrete foundation. After this, reinforcement were provided with more traditional construction materials of rebar and more concrete.

Source: Apis Cor

Contractors were also brought in to install windows and the roof.

The walls are 31 feet tall and t structure is 6,900 square feet, which makes it the largest 3D-printed building ever, according to the Apis Cor.

Also Read World’s First 3D Printed Steel Bridge