The potential of 3D printing or additive manufacturing, where a three-dimensional solid object is created from a digital CAD file by ‘laying down’ successive layers of material, has been shouted from the rooftops since the technology first entered the mainstream market. The possibilities for the design and build industry are especially well recognised, from allowing architects to easily experiment with more complicated shapes and forms, to being able to create scale models and prototypes in a few hours for councils during the approvals process, and clients who don’t understand architecture drawings.

But while architects and urban planners are convinced about the benefits of 3D printing – printing 10 full-sized houses in a day[1] or completing Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona with 3D-printed prototypes[2] are not testimonies you can easily ignore – they are far more hesitant about investing in their own 3D printer, which they believe to be too costly and inaccessible for the typical practice or studio.

The influx of a new breed of high quality 3D printers at affordable prices, however, easily discredits these arguments, particularly when looking at the most time-consuming but foundational part of the design schedule: architectural modelling. The case for investing in a 3D printer becomes even stronger when you take into account the problems associated with outsourcing the process, such as having to wait for prototypes to return, which delays turnaround times, and risking confidential designs being leaked.

Owning a 3D printer does away with these issues, whilst offering firms a range of operational and business benefits that provide real bottom-line advantages. These include lowering the costs of creating prototypes and models, accelerating time to market, giving practices an added competitive advantage, ensuring fewer manufacturing errors and greater confidentiality, and improving model accuracy and quality.

New York-based firm Rietveld Architects is one firm that has capitalised on the advantages of 3D printing. Like many others, the practice builds numerous models of increasing detail and scale during the course of a typical project to help clients understand their designs – a task that usually requires two employees to spend upwards of two months cutting, assembling and finishing components.

In order to increase the quality and efficiency of its model production, Rietveld invested in the Objet Eden350™ 3D Printer, which it says has helped its employees “do more with less and deliver superior models”. For instance, the firm could create detailed models that brought to life a precise representation of the complex functional requirements of a new INHOLLAND University building with the 3D printer, without compromising their unique design.

The time it took to produce the models were reduced from months to hours, shaving weeks off the development cycle. At the same time, creating an accurate 3D model meant the clients could more clearly visualise how the building would look like after it was built.

“The enthusiastic response from the university’s leadership played out in the extremely collaborative and streamlined approval process,” says Piet Meijs, an Associate at Rietveld. “Hand-made models could not have displayed all the important details in this project.”

Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc. (PMAMI), a Toronto-based architectural modelling company, has also benefitted from investing in its own 3D printer. Its work includes replicating some of the world’s tallest and most notable buildings prior to construction, which requires a high level of craftsmanship and keen attention to detail.

“Even for our skilled craftsmen and women, amorphic shapes always present the biggest challenge; they are the most difficult to model by hand to the level of precision our type of work demands,” notes Josh Coulas, Manager for PMAMI.

PMAMI initially steered clear of 3D printing technology and used CNC machines or created parts by hand. However, when it was chosen to construct the architectural model for Masdar Headquarters by Smith+Gill Architects, a mixed use structure in Dubai featuring a collection of 11 wind cones that provide natural ventilation and form oasis-like interior courtyards at ground level[3], it purchased the Dimension 3D printer to meet the project’s complex standards requirements and time constraints. And it hasn’t looked back since, having used the printer for almost anything it works on, from creating miniature furniture to moulds for intricate pieces of the Salt Lake Temple in Utah.

The best advantage of owning the printer, says Coulson, is the ability to create a library of reusable designs, with resulting time savings often translating into cost reductions as well:

“When we have repetitive pieces, we can print one as a mould, cast it and then use the cast to injection-mould the rest. It really speeds up the process. Once we’ve printed the file, we can do it at any scale; creating a library of the drawings to reuse is invaluable.”

To find out more about the benefits of owning an in-house 3D printer, check out this whitepaper, In-house or Outsource?

 [1] http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/chinese-company-3d-prints-10-houses-in-a-day-from
[2] http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/antoni-gaudi-s-sagrada-familia-has-been-using-3d-p
[3] http://smithgill.com/work/masdar_headquarters/