Dar Al Arkan, a real estate company in Saudi Arabia, has marked a regional first with the introduction of the first 3D Construction Printing (3DCP) technology that will accelerate the speed of construction while enhancing safety and reducing wastage and errors
Launched in collaboration with the Construction of Buildings on Demand (COBOD), Dar Al Arkan is leading the transition of the industry toward advanced and sustainable building practices, and complementing the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to support economic diversification and digitisation.
Unlike traditional home-building methods, 3DCP cuts the construction time by more than half, is more flexible and requires less manpower since it takes only three workers to build one house. This, in turn, also contributes to decreased lost time injury, creating a safer workplace.
As 3DCP increases the accuracy of construction, there will be less repairs and rework too, helping save long-term costs and adding to the value of the property. The technology is also very important in insulation and reduces the cost of electricity bills. A combination of reduced waste of construction materials, less need for repair or rework and low on-site LTI incidents will enable highly cost-efficient project management than traditional construction.
Ziad El Chaar, vice- chairman, Dar Al Arkan Properties, said, ?Our goal is to develop the Kingdom?s real estate sector by integrating the latest trends and technologies, drawn from global best practices to enhance our industry locally and deliver on the objectives of Vision 2030 at many levels. The introduction of 3D construction printing will revolutionise our approach to construction and enable us to focus on greater flexibility of design, strengthen productivity and achieve higher cost efficiency. This will raise the industry standards, achieve excellence and position the Kingdom as a leader in this sector, while making us highly competitive in 3DCP technology.?
Henrik Lund-Nielsen, founder & general manager, COBOD, commented, ?The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents the largest potential market in the Middle East for our disruptive 3D construction technology and many large end customers in the Kingdom have been eagerly awaiting, that the technology became available via an established local company. Therefore, it has been very important for us to team up with the right Saudi partner for the deployment of our technology. We are very pleased with the fact that such an important and influential company as Dar Al Arkan have chosen to partner with us. We look forward to working with them and to assist them with assuring the success of the 3DCP technology in the Kingdom.?
The 3DCP extrudes concrete layer by layer across three dimensions until the whole frame structure is complete without the use of formwork or any subsequent vibration. Due to its computerised features, the 3DCP produces the highest quality EU certified structures with almost zero error and waste.
