World’s largest 3D printer headed to Saudi Arabia

The Bod 2 printer can produce buildings of 12x27x9 metre buildings, as well as three-storey structures of 300 sq m per floor

Saudi Arabia’s Elite for Construction & Development Company has purchased what has been described as the world’s largest 3D construction printer from Danish firm Cobod International.

The Bod 2 printer can produce buildings of 12x27x9 metre buildings, as well as three-storey structures of 300 sq m per floor, according to Arabian Business sister publication Construction Week. 

Cobod said in a statement that its printer will be delivered in Saudi Arabia by the end of May, adding that the machine will be the “first of its kind” in the kingdom.

Copenhagen-based Codod, a sister company of 3D Printhuset, manufactured Europe’s first 3D printed building in Europe, the Bod, in 2017. A year later saw it launch Bod 2.

In 2018, Germany’s Peri Group acquired a minority stake in Cobod.

Speaking on the firm’s latest news, Henrik Lund-Nielsen, chief executive officer at Cobod International, said: “We are very proud to receive this order from Saudi Arabia, which again confirms that our Bod 2 3D construction printer is second to none.

“Not only is the Bod 2 the fastest 3D construction printer in the world, but the modular approach of the Bod 2 has allowed us to deliver the size that Elite For Construction & Development Co wanted.”

Saad Al Shathri, general manager of Elite for Construction & Development Co, said the firm will deliver the output of the 3D printer’s “revolutionising technology” across Saudi Arabia.

He added: “[Bod 2] will bring costs significantly down compared to the temporary, imported printers using foreign made materials.”

Elite for Construction & Development Co’s order comes as Saudi Arabia rapidly adopts technologies such as 3D printing to deliver millions of homes as planned within its Vision 2030 economic mandate. 

In March 2019, the kingdom’s Ministry of Housing approved a deal that will allow local builder Al Kathiri Holding Co to produce and use 3D-printed concrete for the authority’s projects.