3D printed street furniture offers many advantages
3D printing of concrete street furniture and skate objects offers numerous advantages. "It provides great design freedom and is also more cost-effective than traditional concrete elements in public spaces," says landscape designer Donny Thieme of Bureau RIS. Rich Holland of F31 is equally enthusiastic; he designed 3D-printed concrete skate elements. Both designers plan to create more designs using 3D-printed concrete.
A LinkedIn post can lead to unexpected opportunities. Last year, Saint-Gobain 3D.Weber posted an article about a 3D-printed concrete slope stair. Both Donny Thieme and Richard Holland read the post and saw potential for their own designs. Donny and his partner Mariska design green schoolyards and natural playgrounds: "We aim to connect nature and people more closely by designing adventurous play areas where children (and their parents) can relax, explore, and have fun. We place great emphasis on sustainability, biodiversity, and climate adaptation."
Rich Holland has been passionate about skateboarding since he was twelve. Since 2000, he has been exploring design boundaries of objects and landscapes, particularly for skateboarding. His latest major project involved designing an architectural skatepark at Nike's headquarters in the Netherlands. "I noticed early on that skate objects often don't fit into the landscape; they are oddities in their environment. I approach public skate parks from a landscape architecture perspective."
Skate Objects
An assignment came in for skate elements in Southampton's public space, which needed to be architecturally responsible and fit the surroundings. "When I saw the 3D-printed slope stair, I immediately thought: can I also create skate objects in 3D-printed concrete?"
Through the LinkedIn post, Rich connected with 3D.Weber: "It became clear to me that 3D printing offers more possibilities for sustainable and multifunctional designs. The design flexibility is much greater. You can easily produce thirty skate beams, each with slight variations, which would be unaffordable with traditionally cast concrete. The production time is also short: you print for an hour, let the objects cure for two hours, and three days later, they're ready for use."
According to the skatepark designer, 3D printing forces you to rethink the design process: "You're no longer bound to a specific shape. Projects can be approached multidisciplinary."
3D printed skate object for public space in Southampton. Photo: Rich Holland, F3.
The 3D printed concrete seating elements in use. Photo: Bureau RIS.
Outdoor Classroom
The first project with 3D-printed concrete 'urban furniture' that Donny realized with 3D.Weber was an outdoor classroom and stage for the green-blue schoolyard of De Expeditie primary school in Arnhem. The elements were installed by the contractor at the end of April 2023. "At the ends of the seating elements, children can see the print work from the inside. This way, we also introduce them to technological innovations. Since they are lightweight elements, an expensive foundation is unnecessary. I would have needed eight different molds to cast everything traditionally. The total costs are therefore lower than seating elements made of traditional concrete. A small adjustment to an element costs nothing extra. Moreover, we chose a waffle pattern by allowing the nozzle to fan out slightly during printing. It's all possible."
The slope stair is one of the products that Saint-Gobain Weber Beamix is actively marketing within concrete printing. "We've moved beyond the pioneering phase, having realized about 50 stairs in the Netherlands and across Europe, and have received approval from ProRail, Rijkswaterstaat, and various municipalities."
Both gentlemen are convinced: more projects with 3D-printed concrete are already being considered. The collaboration with Weber Beamix has been excellent. Donny has one wish: "It would be great if we could print concrete in color in the future." Rich concludes: "We first made test prints and then the final elements. We are now exploring through Saint-Gobain whether we can design general skate parks. A wonderful challenge!"
This article was written for the Dutch trade magazine GWWTotaal. Click here to read the full article.