3D printing breakthrough

A new approach to 3D printing promises to deliver commercial quality manufactured parts at a much faster rate. Silicon Valley-based Carbon3D’s Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology harnesses light and oxygen to continuously grow objects from a pool of resin instead of printing them layer-by-layer. It says the technique is 25-100 times faster than conventional 3D printing, and can deliver commercial quality objects with consistent mechanical properties. A broad range of polymeric materials can be used to manufacture complex parts. The technique works by carefully balancing the interaction of UV light, which triggers photo polymerisation, and oxygen, which inhibits the reaction, to continuously grow objects from a pool of resin. Carbon3D has partnered with Sequoia Capital and Silver Lake Kraftwerk to raise $41m to commercialise the technology.

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Carbon3D technology uses light and oxygen to grow objects from a pool of resin

Carbon3D CEO Joseph DeSimone

Flashy facades

Hunter Douglas facades offer a wide range of shapes, joint options, materials, finishes and colours. Its Quadroclad range consists of honeycomb core panels with facings in coated or anodized aluminium, zinc and stainless steel. The panels are lightweight and offer a high level of flatness, even on very large panels. Sizes can go up to 1,500mm width x 10m in extreme cases, with a sharp finish and clean lines. A variety of fixing systems are available. MPF, or Multiple Panel Format, offers a plank style, single skin panel in the same range of metals as Quadroclad. It is a versatile panel with widths from 150mm to 600mm x 6m maximum length. Joints can be opened or closed and played to good architectural effect, according to Hunter Douglas.

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Hunter Douglas offers an array of facade solutions

Demonstrating potential

The first and largest powder-based 3D-printed cement structure has been built at a US university. Created to demonstrate the architectural potential of 3D printing, the freestanding pavilion – Bloom – is composed of 840 customised blocks, measures roughly 12ft by 12ft, and is 9ft high. The University of California, Berkeley research team was led by Ronald Rael, associate professor of architecture, who developed a new type of iron oxide-free Portland cement polymer formulation which enabled the 3D printing. “We are mixing polymers with cement and fibres to produce very strong, lightweight, high-resolution parts on readily available equipment; it’s a very precise, yet frugal technique,” said Rael. “This project is the genesis of a realistic, marketable process with the potential to transform the way we think about building a structure.” Siam Cement Group provided the Portland cement, while additional support and materials were provided by Emerging Objects, a startup company co-founded by Rael and Virginia San Fratello, and Entropy Resins.

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Bloom, a freestanding 3D-printed cement pavilion, is made of 840 customised blocks

Solar powered stained glass

Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel has created a stained glass window that doubles as a clean energy source. In the ‘Current Window’ project, coloured pieces of glass generate electricity from daylight, and can even harness diffused sunlight. The power is then sent to a USB port in the window ledge. The glass pieces are made of ‘dye sensitised solar cells’, which use the properties of colour to create an electrical current — just like photosynthesis in plants, according to van Aubel. As various shades of green chlorophyll absorb light, the coloured window panes harness energy.

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Coloured glass generates energy

Smart paving for Barcelona

Pollutant-absorbing pavements and ambient lighting will help turn a Barcelona bridge into a green urban plaza. Spanish architecture firm BCQ is upgrading the Sarajevo Bridge in the Catalonian capital in a bid to turn it into an attractive gateway to the city. The new pavement will use a photocatalytic concrete surface, a self-cleaning material that absorbs air pollutants, converting them into harmless substances. Applied to white or grey cement, the removed pollution is then washed away by the rain. Photo-luminescent elements within the concrete provide a source of ambient light, absorbing solar energy during the day and releasing it at night. The upgraded bridge will be energy self-sufficient, using solar panels that generate the energy consumed by new LED lighting.

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Pollutant-absorbing pavements use self-cleaning photocatalytic concrete surfaces

Acoustic sessions

Bringing back the concept of a traditional bandstand, Flanagan Lawrence’s Acoustic Shells project has been recognised with an architecture award. The concrete seaside shelter and bandstand sited in a sunken garden beside the beach in Littlehampton, West Sussex, UK, picked up the AJ Small Projects Special Prize. The visually striking Acoustic Shells have been designed as an architecture that can represent ‘sound’, and the people that made it, according to Flanagan Lawrence. One shell faces the town and forms the principal bandstand. The acoustic design of the interior creates a reflective surface to project the sound of the performers to the audience in the sunken garden. The other shell faces the beach and forms a more intimate shelter for listening to the sound of the sea or for buskers to perform facing the promenade.

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Acoustic Shells doubles as a bandstand and seaside shelter

Wall of fame

A video graphic wall running the length of a 50m corridor has been recognised in a design awards ceremony. The Light Emissions designed and constructed wall at the General Electric Innovation Centre in Saudi Arabia was victorious in the ‘Light & Surface Interior’ category of the Surface Design Awards 2015. The video display consisted of 37mm resolution LED pixels with a black background, with the ability to render media as full speed video a central requirement. Clear polycarbonate sheets covered the display, providing both protection and a lively ‘visual’ reflective surface that blended the display content with ambient lighting. The corridor represents the spine of the General Electric facility, linking a reception, theatre and break-out rooms.

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The 50m-long video graphic wall, which consists of 37mm resolution LED pixels

The right aura

New technology using water deflection techniques to create fan-shaped sheets of water results in an enhanced showering experience, according to designer and manufacturer Methven. The New Zealand-based company has specifically engineered the patented ‘Aurajet’ technology for its new ‘Aio’ range. The showerhead’s hidden nozzles generate single jets of water that hit precisely engineered surfaces to produce a wide, even shower spray with no gaps and enhanced droplet density. Methven says this results in 20 per cent more total spray force and double the water coverage on the skin than traditional showers. It is also designed to generate greater warmth and use less water, with an estimated nine litres per minute.

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Aurajet technology is designed to create a wide, even spray