World’s first 3D-printed building opens in Dubai

The world’s first 3D-printed office building has been completed, according to the Dubai Government.

While other buildings have been partly made by 3D printers, they say this building in the United Arab Emirates is entirely printer-made, including every piece of furniture inside it.

The fully functional workspace is a single-story office located inside Dubai’s Emirates Towers complex and will be the temporary home of the Dubai Future Foundation.

The building was made by a 3D printer that is an impressive 20 feet (six metres) high – smaller printers were also used alongside. It took 17 days to print and two days to install.

All of the components and furniture were built using 3D printing technology combining a mixture of Special Reinforced Concrete (SRC), Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum (GRG) and Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP).

This makes it the most advanced 3D printed structure ever built at this scale. And it’s the first to be put into actual use.

Other structures around the world have already demonstrated the huge possibilities of 3D printings in cities – there’s also a 3D printed apartment building in China’s Suzhou Industrial Park in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

Who knows what other kinds of buildings could be 3D printed next?