Gulf Construction Online - Dar Al Arkan launches Cobod’s 3D print tech

Saudi Focus

Cobod’s 3DCP technology ... set for regional debut.

Dar Al Arkan launches Cobod’s 3D print tech

01 July 2021

Leading Saudi real estate developer Dar Al Arkan has collaborated with Construction of Buildings on Demand (Cobod), a Danish robot 3D construction printer company, to offer its innovative solutions for the first time in the kingdom, thus marking a regional first for Cobod’s 3D construction printing (3DCP) technology.

The 3DCP technology is mainly aimed at helping accelerate the construction work while enhancing safety and reducing wastage and errors. With this revolutionary technology, Dar Al Arkan said it is spearheading the transition of the industry towards advanced and sustainable building practices, and complementing the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to support economic diversification and digitalisation.

Unlike traditional home-building methods, 3DCP cuts the construction time by more than half, is more flexible and requires less manpower since it takes only three workers to build one house, it said.

This, in turn, also contributes to decreased Lost Time Injury, creating a safer workplace. Additionally, less concrete is needed to complete a building, making the technology more sustainable and a viable solution for a low-carbon construction industry of the future.

For consumers, the combination of these advantages ensures lower costs and more affordability compared to traditional construction, said Dar Al Arkan.

As 3DCP increases the accuracy of construction, there will be less repairs and rework too, helping save long-term costs and adding to the value of the property, stated the developer.

Dar Al Arkan said the technology was very important in insulation and also reduces the cost of electricity bills. A combination of reduced waste of construction materials, less need for repair or rework and low on-site LTI incidents will enable highly cost-efficient project management than traditional construction, it stated.

The first 3D printed house in the region using Cobod’s technology would be ready by Q4 2021 and will be located in the Shams Ar Riyadh project, it added.

Vice Chairman Ziad El Chaar said: “Our goal is to develop the kingdom’s real estate sector by integrating the latest trends and technologies, drawn from global best practices to enhance our industry locally and deliver on the objectives of Vision 2030 at many levels. The introduction of 3D construction printing will revolutionise our approach to construction and enable us to focus on greater flexibility of design, strengthen productivity and achieve higher cost efficiency. This will raise the industry standards, achieve excellence and position the kingdom as a leader in this sector, while making us highly competitive in 3DCP technology,” he added.

Cobod Founder and General Manager Henrik Lund-Nielsen said: “Saudi Arabia represents the largest potential market in the Middle East for our disruptive 3D construction technology and many large end customers in the kingdom have been eagerly awaiting that the technology became available via an established local company. Therefore, it has been very important for us to team up with the right Saudi partner for the deployment of our technology. We are very pleased with the fact that such an important and influential company as Dar Al Arkan has chosen to partner with us.”

“We look forward to working with them and to assist them with assuring the success of the 3DCP technology in the kingdom,” he added.