Dubai has opened what it claims to be world’s first 3D-printed office building. Located in the centre of the city, this office will be the temporary headquarters of the Dubai Future Foundation, which is the company behind this project as well. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, the Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai inaugurated the building on Tuesday.
The office was built in 17 days and cost $140,000. It only took one 3D printing specialist, seven men to perform installations and ten electricians. It has one-storey, with a floor space of 250 square meters. The printing was done using a custom robotic 3D printer having a dimension of 20x120x40 (foot).
According to the report by the official news agency WAM, the construction used a special mixture of cement and construction material from the U.S. and U.K. The reliability tests were performed in Britain and China. It is interesting to note that, the construction of electricity, water, telecommunications and air-conditioning systems have also been done by 3D-printing.
“This is the first 3D-printed building in the world, and it’s not just a building, it has fully functional offices and staff,” said Mohamed Al Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs in a statement. “We believe this is just the beginning. The world will change”, he added.
Reportedly, this technique will reduce the building time by 50-70% and labour costs by 50-80%. Dubai’s strategy is to have 25% of its buildings 3D-printed by 2030 and is one of the biggest 3D printing adoption programmes in the world.