{"id":26388,"date":"2021-01-04T17:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=26388"},"modified":"2021-01-04T17:09:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T17:09:29","slug":"twente-additive-manufacturing-040120216","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/twente-additive-manufacturing-040120216\/","title":{"rendered":"Twente Additive Manufacturing puts 3D printing at the heart of more sustainable construction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Twente Additive Manufacturing (TAM) is a Dutch company that has developed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-house-companies-120220184\/\"><span class=\"s1\">concrete 3D printing method <\/span>to build the walls of our future homes<\/a>. This method is particular in that it relies on the famous Fibonacci sequence to conceptualise spiral-shaped constructions and thus natural progressions of space. Its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/top-5-videos-metal-3d-printing-270920204\/\"><span class=\"s1\">first project<\/span> <\/a>in Canada, this year, marked the beginning of a great adventure for the young company. The company has now joined the players in additive concrete manufacturing, a market that has been growing for a few years now. In order to learn more about their projects and technology, we contacted the Twente Additive Manufacturing team who have entrusted us with their ambitions.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>3DN: How did the idea of Twente Additive Manufacturing come up?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The first ideas came from our President and Co-founder Ian Comishin in the fall of 2018 when looking at the existing construction industry with its relatively slow adoption of new construction methods along with the emerging technology of 3D concrete printing which had taken root in many regions including the Netherlands where Ian and a few other co-founders\u00a0were based. Our aim from the very beginning was to bring our groups automation experience to bear on the challenging task of bringing the construction industry forward into the 21st century. Huge improvements in efficiency along with a serious promise of reduction of waste and emissions were the initial\u00a0motivators but another aspect which is beginning to show its merits is the &#8220;freedom of design&#8221; with little or no added costs from conventional designed versions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_60236\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-60236\" class=\"wp-image-60236 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/twente.jpg\" alt=\"Twente Additive Manufacturing\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-60236\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Twente Additive Manufacturing has developed a solution to 3D print the walls of a house (photo credit: TAM)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>3DN: <\/b><\/span><b>Why did you choose the Fibonacci sequence to 3D print a house? What are the advantages?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The first goal of the Fibonacci house construction was to demonstrate the process differences with non-linear walls. When looking for the value added by the additive manufacturing the public automatically tries to do direct comparisons to the simplest form of conventional construction and then are surprised that the 3D printed version is not competitive. The <strong>additive\u00a0manufacturing method of construction starts being competitive\u00a0as complexity increases <\/strong>such that when you try to compare the wood framed version of a Fibonacci spiraled building with the 3D printed version, the most attractive option becomes the layered mortar bead. The second benefit to the Fibonacci spiral\u00a0is the natural progression of the spaces from wide open exterior facing spaces in the living room to the closed and warmer shower space in the tightest part of the spiral.<\/p><div class=\"dnati-inside-article-leaderboard\" style=\"text-align: center;\" id=\"dnati-2481589105\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/3717757396787\/WN_sBfwcCHoQSq1mEANYpWa6Q\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"LB (3)\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/LB-3.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>3DN: <\/b><\/span><b>Can you tell us a bit more about that house?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">With its 28m\u00b2 ground level surface\u00a0 the Fibonacci house can be considered as a tiny house. It also features a mezzanine with sleeping space for four people. The printed elements are mainly made of 1 component print material from Laticrete. The 4.5m high columns of the patio roof are printed with 2 component material from Baumit. The slender elements were calling for a material with extra high build rates of up to 20m height per hour. The insulated walls hold all the HVAC conduits and infrastructure. The non-printed elements of the house like doors, windows, roof etc. are either refurbished elements or locally sourced wood constructions with the purpose of reducing the CO\u00b2 footprint as much as possible. Finishing of the interior is ongoing but should be completed very soon.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/twente_house.jpg\" alt=\"TAM 3D printed house\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 3D printed house (photo credit: TAM)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>3DN: <\/b><\/span><b>How do you see additive manufacturing in construction in 5 years?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">We see the\u00a0additive manufacturing segment of the construction\u00a0industry growing at a fast pace as more buildings get constructed and more projects see the light of day. A major hurdle for the industry is actually the <strong>public engagement and acceptance<\/strong> which can only really be achieved by people from the public seeing and feeling the printed structures for themselves. Therefore, as more work is done and more people are exposed\u00a0to the benefits\u00a0and applications of the technology, the demand will increase.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/twente_printing.jpg\" alt=\"Twente Additive Manufacturing\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">TAM was inspired by the Fibonacci sequence when designing the shapes of its house (photo credits: TAM)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>3DN:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><b>What projects do you have planned for the future?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">We are\u00a0working on another house project to be printed in 2021 along with more machinery development to aid the 3DCP community in achieving reliable and impressive printing feats.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>3DN: <\/b><\/span><b>Any last words for our readers?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">As your readers are already experienced in additive manufacturing we would be curious to know\u00a0what they would print or use the large format printers for if they had one. The new applications are always exciting to take on. We also encourage everyone to learn about the technology, its limitations and capabilities, and to look forward to a very exciting 3d printed future!<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/twente_site.jpg\" alt=\"Twente Additive Manufacturing\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Twente Additive Manufacturing<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"s1\">You can find out more about Twente Additive Manufacturing&#8217;s projects and technologies on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.twente-am.com\/\">website<\/a>. What do you think about using additive manufacturing to build houses? Let us know in a comment below or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Dnatives\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Facebook<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/3Dnatives_en\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Twitter<\/span><\/a>\u00a0pages! Sign up for our free weekly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printing-newsletter\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Newsletter here<\/span><\/a>, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox!<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dnati-after-content\" id=\"dnati-3607147697\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/amcoe.org\/event\/design-for-additive-manufacturing-design-at-elevation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DfAM course-850&#215;150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-600x106.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-768x136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-160x28.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twente Additive Manufacturing (TAM) is a Dutch company that has developed a concrete 3D printing method to build the walls of our future homes. This method is particular in that it relies on the famous Fibonacci sequence to conceptualise spiral-shaped&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6075,"featured_media":26392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6075"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26394,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26388\/revisions\/26394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}