3D printed terrazzo floors for amsterdam’s schiphol airport by aectual and DUS architects

showcasing at dutch design week 2017, aectual uses 3D printing technologies to fabricate completely customizable and sustainable floors. the bespoke designs use recycled bio-plastic material to create the frameworks and then a mixture of recycled granite or marble to fill in the remaining spaces. suitable for projects of all sizes, the system has already been used to craft the bespoke floor at loft’s flagship store in tokyo, japan, and currently installing its latest one at amsterdam’s schiphol airport in november 2017.

3D printed floors for amsterdam’s shiphol airport by aectual
all images courtesy of aectual

officially launching their product at dutch design week 2017, aectual employ huge robots, with six-axis movement, to print as they move from side to side on rails. this allows them to fabricate the framework of the designs from small to large scale sizes, all at just a few centimeters in height. the constructions are then moved onsite where terrazzo material – the granite or marble composite – is filled into the empty spaces and then polished off. the results are tailor-made floors that not only display the personalities of the client, but also their story and further bespoke branding. with the mission to bring tailor-made architecture to the masses, these floors are to be walked on by hundreds of thousands of people in airports and other public spaces. the 3D printing technology was developed in-house by aectual and is currently used to 3D print the DUS architects design at the schiphol airport. 

‘the extruder is mounted on a robot arm, itself mounted on a track. the maximum print areas of the several printers available are 2x2x4 meters, 8x2x2m or 2x2x2m. the 3D printer can deposit between 1 – 15 kg/hr of material. using an automated material feeding system, the printer can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.‘ says hans vermeulen, CEO of aectual.