House Building with Robots and 3D Printers

(ETH Zurich, June 29, 2017)

At the NEST building in Dübendorf, four construction methods are for the first time being transferred from research to architectural applications, in the DFAB House. Construction work began with the Mesh Mould technology. A construction robot called “In situ Fabricator” moves autonomously on caterpillar tracks even in a constantly changing environment. A steel wire mesh, fabricated by the robot, serves both as a formwork and as a reinforcement for the concrete. A Smart Slab will then be installed – a statically optimized and functionally integrated ceiling slab, the formwork of which was manufactured using a large-scale 3D sand printer. Smart Dynamic Casting technology is being used for the facade on the ground floor: the automated robotic slip-forming process can produce bespoke concrete facade mullions. The two upper floors, with individual rooms, are being prefabricated at ETH Zurich’s Robotic Fabrication Laboratory using Spatial Timber Assemblies; cooperating robots will assemble the timber construction elements.