Construction is underway for a groundbreaking 3D-printed building in Switzerland, poised to claim the title of the world’s tallest structure in its category
Dubbed the ‘Tor Alva’ or ‘White Tower,’ the project is currently in progress at ETH Zurich.
Architects Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer from ETH Zurich’s Digital Building Technologies group spearheaded the design of the project, working in partnership with the Institute of Structural Analysis and Design (CSBD) and the Institute of Building Materials (PCBM).
The initial phase involves the 3D printing of the first eight columns for the tower’s lower floor, with the process commencing in February.
Set to achieve a height of 30m, 3D-printed columns will support five floors and form a semi-open facade.
The tower will be constructed in the Swiss Alps village of Mulegns
The printing process is expected to take around 900 hours and involves the robotic 3D printers extruding a soft cement-lime mixture out of a nozzle in layers to build up the basic structure of the tower’s different parts for assembly.
The tower represents a groundbreaking milestone as it pioneers the use of 3D-printed concrete in a fully structural capacity, incorporating steel reinforcement seamlessly during the robotic production process.
The 3D-printed building is expected to be completed by mid-2024
The White Tower is being created in collaboration with Nova Fundaziun Origen.Â
“The entire structure of the tower is designed using custom software that allows the precise definition of the geometry and can send the necessary data directly to the printing robots,” explained ETH Zurich’s Digital Building Technologies.
The 3D-printed building also saves waste during construction: “Elements are only filled with concrete where it is structurally required, which greatly reduces material use. This construction method avoids waste because no formwork for pouring concrete is necessary.”
