The ‘Office of the Future,’ the world’s first 3D printed office was inaugurated in Dubai by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. This marks one of the steps in making Dubai a smart city really soon.
The world’s first 3D printed office is situated on the Emirates Towers and will significantly be the temporary office of the Dubai Future Foundation.
“We implement what we plan, and we pursue actions not theories. The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of development, for history does not recognize our plans but our achievements.” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
The office is around 25o square meters big and has used the technology of 3D printing and integrated it with a unique design and it offers electricity, water, telecommunications, and air-conditioning. The building is arc-shaped and was constructed using a unique cement mixture. The building materials used to build the world’s first 3D printed office were made in the UAE and the US and were tested in both China and the UK.
Apart from being 3D printed, the building is also innovative in its methods of keeping cool and consumes less power than what is needed.
The best part about this building was that it took only 17 days to print, after which the interior and exterior designs were designed around it. The building was printed using a 3D printer that was 20 ft tall, 120 ft long, and 40 ft wide. As far as the labour involved is concerned, it used up only 50% of the actual labour that would have been involved in the construction of a regular building.
“We see this project as a case study that will benefit regulators as well as research and development centres at the regional and international levels on real application of 3-D printing technology. We are documenting this experience and building on it to take advantage of the most important lessons, which will serve as reference points to take this technology to new levels.” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Dubai is indeed becoming the hub of innovation and creativity!
*Quotes and Images source: Emirates 24X7.
