A new, printed world is coming

COBOD I PROFILE

With a string of industry firsts, buyers across six continents, and strategic partnerships with industry majors, COBOD is the preeminent name in 3D printing construction. “We are clearly the market leader, and our fantastic customer base proves it,” declared Founder & General Manager Henrik Lund-Nielsen. Colin Chinery reports.

Around since the early 1980s, 3D printing is fast generating market momentum, used in a range of applications, from aircraft components to orthopaedic implants. Among the latest products of this ever-transcending industry include a synthetic steak containing muscle, fat and blood vessels.

By the time wider deployments were unfolding, enterprising Danish techno- entrepreneur Henrik Lund-Nielsen had already founded several companies within the 3D printing industry. And in 2018, seeing the potential in the construction industry, he launched COBOD International.

“I had seen technologies in the past that were helping to disrupt a lot of industries, and thought the same would happen with 3D printing, with construction one of the areas that fulfilled the criteria,” he said.

Print and build

While details vary according to the products and processes involved, the underlying principle of 3D printing is the same; a layer of material is laid down via printing nozzles by computer

* Photos credited to our partner PERI

control, fixed in place, then another layer is put on top, and the sequence continues.

By varying the shape, and sometimes the composition of each layer, objects can be crafted that would be difficult or impossible to produce with other techniques.

Set against conventional construction processes, the gains are striking; faster construction, no waste and major labour cost savings in an industry plagued by shortages of skilled labour.

Starting out in 2015, and backed by a government grant, Mr LundNielsen and his 3D printing team spent three years investigating state-of-the-art construction printing around the world. The results were unimpressive.

“We visited 38 sites and organisations and got a complete overview of what the technology could achieve,” he recalled. “At that time the world was reading about the wonders of 3D printing in construction, with headlines about a house built in 24 hours, but that turned out to be completely false.

“But I had guys who have been doing 3D technology printers for 20 years, and when they looked at the level of technology being applied in the visited projects, they said it was really primitive, and not up to the level in other sectors of the 3D printing industry.

“If the proper 3D printing technology was applied, construction would have all the potential, and I felt that we had the competences to apply the right technology, and therefore we could really take the lead in the industry.”

On cue

Noting that some larger conventional construction operators had begun investing in companies delivering 3D construction printing, Mr Lund-Nielsen took his final cue.

“I’m an economist by training, and a business guy, and I reasoned that if these big companies who know the construction industry believed in the technology, then that was enough to convince me of its potential. And with our state-of-the-art knowledge of 3D printing technology, why not apply this knowledge and build the best printers in the world?”

Intent quickly turned into deed, and by the close of 2017, they had created Europe’s first 3D printed building, the BOD – ‘Building On Demand’ - in Copenhagen.

It was a news headliner, and with construction companies now beating a path to COBOD’s Copenhagen headquarters, commercialising, and working on a new series of construction printers was, said Mr Lund-Nielsen “a no brainer. We also needed a special

COBOD I PROFILE

company for pursuing the construction application, and therefore COBOD – Construction Of Buildings On Demand – was established in 2018.”

Other 3D printing breakthroughs quickly followed; 2019 saw the first 3D printed two storey building in Europe made with a COBOD printer by Belgian Kamp C and the first 3D printed windmill tower base, and in 2020 the first 3D printed three storey building in Europe was constructed with a COBOD printer by the German-based PERI Group, a leading supplier of formwork systems that acquired a stake in COBOD two years earlier.

In June 2020, COBOD joined in a three-way partnership with GE and Lafarge Holcim to co-develop optimised 3D printed concrete bases for wind turbines. At 200m tall, the record-breaking height of the towers will deliver 33% more power than regular wind turbines and lower the levelized cost of energy.

With a customer base spanning six continents, major clients include giants like Lafarge Holcim, part of the Swiss multinational building group; India’s premier infrastructure developer L&T Construction; JGC in Japan; and GE Renewable Energy, which in the summer of 2021 showcased COBOD’s concrete printing technology at President Biden’s Climate Summit, attended by leaders of 16 countries.

“We are clearly the market leader, and our fantastic customer base proves it,” stated Mr Lund-Nielsen.

Break-speed success

COBOD’s founder and General Manager points to four critical reasons for the company’s break-speed success.

“Firstly, we printed the first building in Europe made with the new technology, and we were super honest about it. We made a lot of mistakes and were completely open about it. This gave us credibility, in an industry which really was in need of such following the many false claims in the early years.”

Candour and self-scrutiny were again transparent in another critical decision; the decision to develop a second generation printer, instead of selling the printer version that did the first building.

“We decided not to sell the first printer we had developed. Even though at the time it was state-of-the-art and the best printer in the world, we decided it was not good enough for us to sell, and it was far better to develop a better printer based on what we had learnt from the first.”

Thirdly, the partnership with German based PERI Group was an equally important move. Pre-COBOD, PERI would cast concrete on site, using a more traditional method of using formwork equipment and moulds into which concrete was poured.

“Our technology is to print concrete on site without the need for formwork equipment. When PERI came around, they saw what we

were doing, and the professionalism of our organisation,” explained Mr Lund-Nielsen. “You could say that by joining us, PERI was more or less saying, ‘If you can’t beat them, it’s better to join them.’

“The fact that the leaders of the competitive manual technological solution decided to team up with us was super important, once again giving us a lot of credibility in the conventional construction industry.”

Strategic alliances

The GE connection is the fourth leg in COBOD’s remarkable ascent. “It’s not unusual to see a start-up cooperating with such a giant, and so soon after commercialisation. This says much about our skills set and competence,” continued Mr Lund-Nielsen. “Obviously, working with such demanding customers as GE and PERI has also taught us a lot.”

Strategic alliances, determined COBOD’s founder, are another core aspect of the company’s successful strategy.

“We do not think we can do everything ourselves, so in effect we are an open source for securing better solutions for our customers, available on a worldwide scale.”

Emerging trends

COBOD doubled in size in 2020 and more than tripled in 2021, proving that the world is beginning to accept the 3D printing technology as a solution for various construction needs.

Saudi Arabia is planning to use 3D printing to build 1.5 million houses over the next decade, while India’s housing ministry has announced its intention to use 3D printing to address the country’s housing shortages.

“Houses spurred the interest in the technology, because the first printers were small and could only print small houses, which everybody on the other hand could relate to,” remarked Mr Lund-Nielsen, “But for me, the possibilities of 3D printing housing is almost less interesting than the application of the technology in construction of industrial plants and warehousing. The more significant the concrete part of a construction, the more we can save relative to the entire project.”

Emerging trends will see faster, taller construction, and bigger projects turning to the 3D printing world, predicts Mr Lund-Nielsen.

“Right now, we are printing up to three storeys. This is bound to change in the next six to nine months, and we will also see customers doing far more different concrete applications.” And it is up to companies such as his to have the answers and solutions to the challenges when they do.

He concluded: “3D printing technology is here to stay, and is going to disrupt not all, but certain sectors of construction, so it’s better to get involved with it sooner rather than later. And who are the big guys and giants with? They are all with COBOD.” n