Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
NEIGHBOURING Dubai plans to construct a small office building using a 3D printer for the first time, in a drive to develop technology that would cut costs and save time as the city grows.
3D printing, which uses a printer to make three-dimensional objects from a digital design, is taking off in manufacturing industries around the world but has so far been used little in construction.
Dubai’s one-storey prototype building, pictured below, with about 2,000 sq/ft (185 sq/m) of floor space, will be printed layer-by-layer using a 20ft tall printer, Mohamed Al Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said.
It would then be assembled on site within a few weeks. Interior furniture and structural components would also be built through 3D printing with reinforced concrete, gypsum reinforced with glass fibre, and plastic.
The project is a tie-up between Dubai and Winsun, a Chinese company that has been pioneering the use of 3D printers to build houses. Studies estimate the technique could cut building time by 50-70 per cent and labour costs by 50-80 per cent.
The building is to serve as the temporary headquarters for the staff of the Museum of the Future, which was announced back in March as a place to showcase and produce futuristic innovations in various fields including healthcare, education, energy and transportation.
That space is expected to open in 2017 in a seven-storey, oval ring-shaped structure near the Burj Khalifa, and the newly-announced office space will be located nearby. A small digital fabrication facility and a 3D printing exhibition space will be housed on-site.
As Dubai gears up to host the 2020 World Expo, it is undertaking a number of large-scale projects. Among them, the Dubai Opera is scheduled to be completed in 2016 and will be at the heart of a planned Opera District that will also be home to hotels, residences, parks and recreational spaces.
