AECtually, it's 3D printed: Additive manufacturing bespoke, sustainable architecture

If you’ve walked through the terminal building at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, you perhaps won't have noticed that the floor you rolled your suitcase across was, in fact, 3D printed. It's one of the many high-profile projects realised by Aectual, a provider of large, bespoke 3D printed architectural and interior products that demonstrate the true potential for additive manufacturing (AM) in the built world.

Inspired by classic terrazzo flooring, the end result was a combination of 3D printed patterns fused with a bio-based terrazzo infill, built using a sustainable AM workflow which Aectual opened up to AEC professionals and consumers in a new online beta platform back in January.

It's an idea that grew out of the 3D Printed Canal House project in Amsterdam, a renowned R&D venture conceived by Dutch DUS Architects to build a full-size canal house using a large-scale, portable AM system known as the KamerMaker. Today, through Aectual, that same team is now deploying that very technology to produce mass customised products such as wall panels, flooring, room dividers and stairs with 100% recyclable, renewable materials.

"We actually got a lot of questions over the years from architects [and] colleagues that would also love to do something with the technology," Hedwig Heinsman, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Aectual told TCT. "We realised we really would love to build a platform where anyone can just go online and customize their own interior and architectural products and ultimately, even buildings. So, at that moment, we decided to just take the plunge."

Through this new platform, consumers can tailor the size, colours and patterns across a line of 12 signature parametric pieces, while those in the AEC industry are being invited to collaborate and develop their own products. To date, this design-to-delivery platform has been deployed in over 50 projects for established customers like Nike and BMW Group.

Aectual's large-scale 3D printer.

The Aectual solution comprises of a proprietary extrusion-based 3D printing technology, robotics from ABB and recyclable materials, including specially developed plant-based polymer pellets engineered with Henkel. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from Aectual's platform is how its foundation is firmly rooted in the circular economy. Back in 2019, while outlining its ‘The Future of Making’ ambitions for design automation, software provider Autodesk shared findings that 30% of global waste comes from the construction industry. Aectual's strategy seeks to address this crucial challenge. In addition to leveraging the seemingly clear benefits of additive versus subtractive manufacturing – less waste, less material usage – Aectual says its process promises less CO2 emissions compared to traditional methods of manufacture for custom architectural products and promotes a full end-to-end sustainable customer journey, which encourages buyers to return their Aectual pieces once they’re no longer needed so that they can be shredded and repurposed into new products.

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Of Aectual's ethos, Heinsman said: "We had several pillars. One was really the idea of community or democratising architecture so that you can really give people access to the act of shaping their environments - ultimately, entire homes and communities but we start small with these products. And of course, the whole aspect of creating without any waste and working with recycled and more natural materials has also been really a core element from the start."

As the Schiphol Airport project shows, Aectual's work blends 3D printing with traditional construction mediums like glass and concrete but the start-up has been mindful to ensure that this sustainability focus remains true even in those more classic materials. Heinsman shares how, in this case, they were able to use waste marble material and replace the traditional binding agent with a plant based alternative while, in another project, they managed to recycle used Budweiser bottles into a unique flooring concept at the Capital C offices in Amsterdam.

While products are manufactured in-house at Aectual's Amsterdam production facility, which currently houses four robot arms with a huge print area of 500 sq. ft., Heinsman adds that in future, there's scope to leverage additive's other highly touted green attribute – localised production.

"That's of course really how we envision it in the future - there will be just a lot of local hubs and we can connect to all kinds of digital manufacturing techniques," Heinsman said. "At the moment, I think it's already a better alternative because we can really produce very strategically so it's all made to measure - we can really dimension things according to how it's transported so that it can be flat packed in a smart way. So, the whole production process will only become more and more sustainable in the coming years."

3D printed wall panel at Nike flagship store in London.

Having ran DUS Architects for 15 years and worked closely with large-scale 3D printing – the KamerMaker printer itself is now on its third iteration – Heinsman feels there's been a shift in the way AM is being used by AEC professionals. Like the bespoke Aectual panel on the wall of Nike's flagship store on London's Oxford Street that went from concept to installation in just six weeks, there's a lot of value to be found in 3D printing individual features rather than focusing purely on, oftentimes headline making, entire buildings.

"Any building that you see now is always built up from lots of different elements, windowpanes, doors, bricks, you name it," Heinsman explained. "What is also interesting there is that [AEC] is a very capital-intensive industry, there's a lot of expensive machinery involved and you're dealing with a lot of building regulations. It makes it a bit easier when you focus on one product at a time, to really deep dive into products, get all of the building regulations and specs sorted, fire restrictions, UV resistance, etc. So, in that sense, it's quite easy to make a prototype but in order to really launch something onto the market, that's really a different thing and I think that's really what we've mastered or managed to do now with several products."

This is just the beginning and Heinsman assures that those ambitions to fully 3D print buildings are very much in Aectual plans as it proved last year with the "tiny Bauhaus", a small visitor building designed to celebrate the Bauhaus movement.

"It is definitely something that we can already do," Heinsman added. "But what we also love is that we offer a lot of solutions for conventional buildings, renovations, new builds. Overtime, my ultimate fantasy is that people can go online and just start to pick and play with all kinds of products and start to create their own dream office or dream home or dream day-care centre. We're actually not so far away from that."

by Laura Griffiths

8 March 2021

16:40