Our 3D concrete printing demonstrator project has reached an important milestone: the floor plate and wall elements of the hybrid small building have now been successfully printed.
The project is designed as a practical demonstrator for robotic 3D concrete printing in construction. Rather than focusing only on a visually impressive printed object, the aim is to test a realistic hybrid building concept where additive manufacturing is combined with conventional construction methods. The building consists of an optimised printed floor plate, 3D printed wall structures, cast concrete pylons integrated into the wall system, and a conventionally cast roof structure supported by these pylons.
This hybrid approach is central to the demonstrator. It allows us to use 3D concrete printing where it offers clear advantages — such as geometric freedom, material optimisation, reduced formwork, and direct digital fabrication — while keeping conventional reinforced and cast concrete solutions in parts of the structure where they remain technically and economically practical. The result is not a fully printed building for the sake of printing, but a more realistic construction system where different technologies are combined according to their strengths.
The printed walls demonstrate how robotic concrete printing can produce complex wall geometries with integrated cavities, varying thicknesses, and functional structural zones. The optimised floor plate shows how material can be placed only where needed, supporting the broader goal of more resource-efficient construction. The cast pylons will provide defined load-bearing points for the conventional roof, creating a clear interface between the printed and cast parts of the structure.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with Heksagon, our commercial partner. Heksagon is a start-up interested in commercial 3D printing, helping to connect the research and development work with real building needs and future commercial applications.
A key part of the project is also the use of our locally developed concrete printing mixture. Using a local mixture allows us to better control material quality, printability, pumpability, layer stability, and buildability throughout the process. This is especially important in 3D concrete printing, where the material must remain workable during pumping and extrusion, while also gaining enough stiffness quickly enough to support subsequent layers. The successful printing of the floor and wall elements confirms that the mixture and print parameters are suitable for this type of demonstrator structure.
The next stages of the project will focus on handling, assembly, cast concrete integration, roof construction, and evaluation of the completed demonstrator. The results will provide valuable practical knowledge on how 3D printed concrete elements behave in a hybrid construction system and how this technology can be developed further for real building applications.
This milestone marks an important step in moving 3D concrete printing from laboratory-scale testing toward functional construction demonstrators.