La Sphère is a free-standing guardhouse within a 180-unit social housing district. In addition to providing security to its residents, the construction of the building used one-third less concrete than traditional methods.
The challenge
CyBe Construction printed and developed La Sphère on behalf of Bouygues Bâtiment Grand Ouest, Immobilière Basse Seine, and Archétude. The structure is a central guardhouse that serves the 180 social housing units that surround it. The design was created to improve the comfort and security of the residents. The building also guarantees a 40% reduction in energy consumption over 15 years and has an enhanced architectural strength.
The takeaways
This construction demonstrated how complex architectural shapes could be quickly created at a very competitive rate. This is possible, because 3D concrete printing’s use of parametric design allows the creation of complicated shapes without the need for issuing extra costs. Additionally, the way of printing enables the use of less material. Because the exact amount of required concrete was used by precisely placing the material in the correct place, the construction of the building used over a third less concrete than traditional methods. This meant a better sustainability, but also a more cost-effective construction process. The project demonstrated a breakthrough in 3D printing techniques, paving the way for new fields of experimentation.
