COBOD and GUtech Have 3D Printed a World Record Breaking Construction Project in Oman

This year, we have already seen a number of projects within the construction industry that have used additive manufacturing. Whether remarkable for its height, quantity or sustainability, these types of projects can benefit significantly from the advantages of 3D printing. Now, however, we’re also talking about the speed at which three whole houses have been 3D printed. Notably, it took a very short period of time – eight days to be exact. The two players that implemented this building project in Sezad, Oman, are GUtech and COBOD. The three new buildings are located in the economic zone of the city and will be used as a coffee shop, public toilet and fishing house in the future.

While COBOD is already a well-known face in the additive construction world with large projects such as wind turbines or even the world’s tallest 3D-printed building, GUtech is the German University of Technology in Oman, which is affiliated with RWTH Aachen University. Since its foundation in 2007, GUtech has set itself the goal to support the interlectual exchange between Oman and Germany with students from all backgrounds. And for 3D printing fans, you may already be familiar with GUtech, because last December they were one of the players who produced the largest 3D-printed building at that time. This building was 190 m2 and cost just $2,000 for the concrete material. This latest project also has world record potential, as no one has been able to 3D print three buildings on site in just a few days before, with what COBOD says is a “combination of minimal labor and very low cost for concrete materials.”

The café was printed in just 22 hours (photo credits: COBOD)

The World’s First 3D Printed Café and Other Buildings

Not only is the time it took to produce the three buildings a novelty, but also a very special building was also included. The coffee shop is the world’s first 3D-printed café, taking just 22 hours to complete. As for the public toilet and the fisherman’s house, these were printed in 13 and 19 hours respectively; however when you include the total time taken to place the printer, it comes to a total of eight days. However, the fact that additive manufacturing is not only known for fast production, but also for other advantages within the construction industry, is also shown by the size and cost ratios, as these amount to just 3,600 US dollars for 173 m2.