Architecture and engineering firm EDG has made waves with its new 3D-printed concrete molds, which can be used to restore old building facades relatively inexpensively. The team calls its style “Modern Ornamental.”
The project was inspired by 574 Fifth Avenue, an ornamented building from the 1940s, which was slated to be demolished because it was too expensive to restore its ornamentation with modern techniques. “This project began with the simple goal of finding a way to salvage and restore many of the deteriorating architectural treasures in New York City, and around the world,” said John Meyer, founder of EDG. “The innate beauty and rich history of these gems were vanishing as the cost of their repair became progressively prohibitive.”
The New York–based company wanted to find a relatively inexpensive method of restoring complex ornamentation, and started looking into 3D printing. While 3D printing parts directly was too expensive and delicate for their needs, 3D printing concrete molds worked far better. The molds were easy to design with the company’s laser scanning capacity, which allowed them to scan and recreate the form of any solid object. “Through exhaustive experimentation, we found the perfect balance of material cost, efficiency and strength, ensuring that the molds can be easily reproduced,” the team said, in its announcement on the subject.
Their final method involved 3D printing the mold, applying a nonstick coating on the inside to make it possible to take the concrete out afterwards, and a combination of laser-cut wire mesh and stirrups to support the cast. When printing the molds, the company used voxeljet’s VX1000 3D printer, as its own MakerBot 3D printer wasn’t suitable for the job. Going forward, they are working on creating their own 3D printer, one that will be specialized for their printing needs.
While 3D printing has been a common theme in the construction industry recently, most of the hype has been about printers capable of 3D printing entire houses or buildings. EDG’s approach to 3D printing is far more detail oriented. That focus is deliberate. “Our hope is that architects and building owners alike will now find the freedom to create captivating and engaging facades that break the monotony of recent trends,” said Jonathan Shea, senior project manager at EDG, when asked about the project’s aims. “As buildings increasingly become value engineered, they are stripped of any nonessentials, which also serve to make them unique. With our method of construction, even on a project where cost governs, ornamentation can be designed and incorporated into the facade without exceeding the budget.”
As the quote suggests, EDG hopes to use its method as much to decorate new buildings as to restore old ones, and it has already started two projects that will use the method “through a more contemporary lens.”