The city of Heidelberg in Germany will soon be home to the largest 3D printed building in Europe, with the construction process expected to be completed in July this year.

Led by PERI 3D Construction, a pioneer in the 3D construction printing industry, the project has been initiated by Heidelberg developer and builder KRAUSGRUPPE for Heidelberg IT Management GmbH & Co. KG, a cloud and data centre provider. PERI, which is providing the know-how for the 3D printing process, is executing the project using the BOD2 printer from COBOD, a world leader in 3D construction printing solutions.

Spread across almost 600sqm, the building is 54m long, 11m wide and 9m high, and will house an IT server hotel. The use of 3D construction printing technology in the project is set to revolutionise the building sector in the city.

Hans-Jörg Kraus, managing partner of KRAUSGRUPPE, says: "As an independent family business with a long tradition and a future ahead, we want to promote innovative construction methods in Heidelberg and make a positive contribution to sustainable building methods.”

PERI is using COBOD's BOD2 3D construction printer to print the walls of the building. Taking advantage of the high printing speeds of the printer, the company plans to complete the printing of the walls in just 140 hours, equivalent to printing 4sqm per hour.

SSV Architekten and Mense Korte who collaborated on the project, devoted a lot of attention to the design of the walls. According to PERI managing director Dr Fabian Meyer-Brötz, the special wall design used in the building documents the immense design freedom that the COBOD BOD2 3D printer enables.

The building will be printed using a fully recyclable material called i.tech 3D mortar supplied by Heidelberg Materials. This material has 55% less carbon emissions than conventional cement, allowing for low carbon construction.

Image credit: PERI

Branko Miletic

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