Tallest 3D-printed tower in Switzerland inaugurated
A 30-meter-high tower made of 3D-printed parts has been opened in Switzerland. A concrete and a printing process were developed for this.
Alva Tor
(Image: ETH ZĂĽrich)
The tallest 3D-printed tower in Switzerland has been inaugurated. A special 3D printing technique was used to realize the project, according to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, which helped initiate the project. The Tor Alva ("White Tower") in Mulegns, a small mountain village in the canton of GraubĂĽnden, is 30 meters high. The tower has four floors, which are supported by 32 sculptural columns. These become increasingly slender towards the top and branch out in the dome. The tower is intended to attract tourists to Mulegns and bring new life to the shrinking village.
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The building owner is the Nova Fundaziun Origen cultural foundation together with ETH Zurich. The tower was designed by architect Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger, who teaches digital construction technologies at ETH. The tower will tower over the mountain village for around five years. Then, according to ETH Zurich, it will be dismantled and rebuilt at another location.
New printing process, new concrete
Both the printing process and the building materials had to be newly developed for the construction. A concrete was used that was soft enough to form fine structures. However, it also had to harden quickly in order to be load-bearing. Finally, two additives were added to the mass shortly before extrusion, which made the ornamentation on the columns possible. The mixture was found at the ETH.
A special process was developed at the ETH to reinforce the concrete so that it does not just serve as a shell, as in previous 3D printing projects, but can also take on a load-bearing function. Two robots are used: one places the concrete, while the second places ring-shaped reinforcement bars 20 centimetres apart.
In addition to the horizontal reinforcement with the rings, there was another with longitudinal reinforcement bars. These were inserted after printing. Printing did not take place on site in Mulegns, but on the ETH Hönggerberg campus. The 124 components were assembled there in five months. The column elements were assembled in Mulegns' neighboring town of Savognin and then transported to their destination by heavy goods vehicle via the Julierstrasse.
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The largest 3D-printed building in Europe is in Heidelberg. It was completed in 2023 and houses a data center.
(wpl)
