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3D Construction Printing
The BOD building: There are no straight walls in this house. Instead, curved and even undulating walls were built to reflect the location at the harbour.
 
The BOD – Europe’s first 3D printed building
 
The BOD – Europe’s first 3D printed building
 
The goal of this project was to demonstrate how 3D printing technology could be applied in the traditional construction industry in Europe.

The goal of this project was to demonstrate how 3D printing technology could be applied in the traditional construction industry in Europe.

The idea for the project came from our participation in the Danish government-funded project “3D Construction Printing”, during which we visited more than 35 3D construction printing projects worldwide. We realized that Europe was falling behind, and we took on the challenge to be the first in Europe to 3D print a building fulfilling the strict building codes of Europe.

THE BUILDING

The BOD is a small 3D printed office hotel of less than 50 square meters located in Copenhagen’s Nordhavn.

The BOD, which is short for “Building on Demand” is named precisely so to underline that with 3D printing technology for building projects, the building process is automatized and the borders for what can be made are hereby expanded. Even if the BOD is less than a 50 sqm building, it is still large enough to illustrate some of the economic and architectural advantages of applying 3D printing technology to construction. With traditional building techniques, any shape that is organic or not straight is a challenge including cost. The BOD does not contain any straight walls, the only straight elements being the windows and doors. Even when making the foundation, a non-straight shape provides expensive and difficult challenges when using the traditional methods, which is why for The BOD building we not only are 3D printing the walls, but also part of the foundation.

PERI 3D Construction Printing
PERI 3D Construction Printing

”We are excited about having participated and contributed to this project. We managed to develop a recipe which not only was suitable for 3D printing, but also had a significant share of recycled content. Denmark is among the front-runners with respect to recycling, but in this project, we even managed to go from the usual downcycling of construction waste to recycling and upcycling”

Jens D. Henriksen, Force Institute

THE BUILDING

Proving the technology and printing the first house in Europe has been challenging, but very instructive.

The internal and external walls of the building were all printed at the same time.
The BOD building: PERI 3D Construction Printing: The internal and external walls of the building were all printed at the same time.
Partially recycled materials were added to the concrete recipe, which is beneficial for the environment.
The BOD building: Partially recycled materials were added to the concrete recipe, which is beneficial for the environment.
It is already possible to obtain construction permits for buildings using the 3D construction printer by integrating reinforcement and filling the hollow spaces.
The BOD building: It is already possible to obtain construction permits for buildings using the 3D concrete printer by integrating reinforcement and filling the hollow spaces.
After adding reinforcement and concrete to the cavities of the total of eleven printed column formworks that make up the building, the roof could be put on.
After adding reinforcement and concrete to the cavities of the total of eleven printed column formworks that make up the building, the roof could be put on.
There are no straight walls in this house. Instead, curved and even undulating walls were built to reflect the location at the harbour.
The BOD building: There are no straight walls in this house. Instead, curved and even undulating walls were built to reflect the location at the harbour.
Although only 50 m2 in size, the innovative house exemplifies the new construction method in a very impressive way.
The BOD building: Although only 50 m2 in size, the innovative house exemplifies the new construction method in a very impressive way.
Due to the individual shaping of the walls, the superbly finished internal area is a very special design highlight.
The BOD building: Due to the individual shaping of the walls, the superbly finished internal area is a very special design highlight.
 
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