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UAE: SRTI Park, home to first 3D-printed house, explores extending the concept to street furniture

Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park hosts workshop on innovating street furniture with 3D concrete printing

The Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTP), home to the region’s first 3D printed house, is exploring new applications for this technology, including in the field of street furniture.

In an effort to disseminate knowledge in the latest construction and digital fabrication technologies, Middle East Engineering Technologies (MEET) and SRTIP hosted a workshop titled “Innovating Street Furniture with 3D Concrete Printing” at the 3D-Printed House at SRTI Park.

Commenting on SRTI’s plans for pushing 3D printing innovations, Hussain Al Mahmoudi, CEO of SRTIP, said: “3D-printing is a technology whose time has come. We believe 3D printing is set to revolutionise the construction industry. The construction of the first house of architectural heritage with the three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques at the park is a testimony to our mission to boost the usage of 3D printing. We are delighted to host this workshop which helped throw new light on the application of the emerging technology.”

Haidar Alhaidary, projects executive at MEET, presented various insights into the new technology, and explained unique features of the 3D printed villa, and the possibilities for innovating concrete street furniture.

A follow-up discussion with the attending professors, young engineers, and students explored public opinion on the technology and the various pathways it is expected to take as it enters into universities’ future engineering programmes.

The attendees also visited the 3D Concrete Printing facility at the 3D House and watched the robotic printer in action.

Being one of the first organisations regionally and globally to adopt 3D concrete printing, and having built the first 3D-printed villa in the UAE, MEET is committed to collaborate and contribute along with its key partners to further the technology.

Global interest in 3D concrete printing has been exponentially increasing since 2016 with numerous applications being explored in an attempt to maximise the benefits of the technology.

The 3D Printed House at SRTI Park is an architectural marvel. The entire house was built with cutting-edge technology, incorporating the heritage of the UAE, and symbolising Sharjah’s vision to be a hub for the 3D printing technology.

By introducing 3D-printing, SRTI Park has creating a vibrant and supportive environment for experiments and research in the field of future building technologies and fourth generation technologies. The technology is considered to be one of the most innovative ways to build an integrated residential unit through the use of digital machineries.

3D-printing manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D-printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process, an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the object is created. Dimensions are usually faster, more affordable and easier to use than other manufacturing technologies. 3D printers allow developers to print intricate interlocking parts, and can make parts of different materials with different mechanical and physical properties and then assemble them together.