The World’s First 3-D–Printed Office Building Will Open in Dubai

Dubai’s newest office building will not be a traditional construction project. The United Arab Emirates has partnered with WinSun Global—a joint venture between Chinese 3-D–printing tech company WinSun and architecture and engineering firms Gensler, Thornton Tomasetti, and Syska Hennessy—to 3-D–print the structure. The office will stand in front of the ring-shaped Museum of the Future, now under construction, and will serve as temporary headquarters for its staff.

Made with a combination of reinforced concrete, glass-fiber-reinforced gypsum, and fiber-reinforced plastic, the office building’s parts will be printed in thin layers by a 20-foot-tall industrial printer and then assembled on-site. The entire structure, including the furniture, will be printed, making it one of the most intricate and advanced 3-D–printed buildings to date. It will take only a few weeks to construct, and is set to open in October.

The Museum of the Future will be dedicated to all things cutting-edge, 3-D printing included. Sheikh Mohammed confirmed his country’s commitment to new technologies: “The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it. Here in the UAE, we think differently. While others try to predict the future, we create it.”

For more information visit motf.ae.