Beyond the Prototype: 3D Printing will Change AEC

Director of High Performance Robert Bolin contributed to an Architectural Record about what 3D printing means for the future of construction and engineering industries.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) recently completed the Additive Manufacturing and Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project—a small building the firm designed in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, among other industry partners. The 450-square-foot carbon- fiber-reinforced ABS plastic structure, which was first exhibited on ORNL’s campus in September, has the ability to operate off the grid: its roof includes thin-film photovoltaics that work in tandem with a natural gas-fired generator housed in an accompanying 3-D-printed vehicle.

Click here to learn more.