According to various news reports, Saudi Arabia is in the process of buying the world's largest 3D construction printer in order to begin building houses in the Kingdom. Al Watan newspaper cited BNC Projects magazine, saying that the printer is able to produce buildings with dimensions as large as 12 x 27 x 9 meters, as well as three-level structures measuring 300 square meters per floor.
According to Al Watan, Saudi Arabia has already tested this same technology in 2017, when in November of that year, the country’s Ministry of Housing announced the completion of the first 3D structure in Riyadh. A year after that, in November 2018, the National Housing and Industrial Development and Logistics Program, under the larger Vision 2030 program, announced the successful construction of a house using 3D printing technology.
It was built within 25 hours by four Saudis and two foreign experts. Saudi Arabia is now taking its efforts further this year with plans to acquire the largest printer in the world, the BOD 2, reportedly from Danish company COBOD.
The newspaper stressed that Saudi Arabia’s experience in building houses using such 3D printing technology, which is one of the latest fourth generation technologies, aims to keep up with technological progress across the world with regards to the future of construction. It will allow Saudi Arabia to be proactive in promoting the adoption of innovative construction techniques in the building and construction sector, and it will help in facilitating localization of its industry in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the National Transition Program 2020.
