Building materials provider LafargeHolcim is staging the hackathon for students in engineering, architecture and material science, along with its partner Dutch engineering and consultancy firm Witteveen+Bos, and with the support of COBOD and Ecole des Ponts.
With 1.6 billion people lacking adequate housing and the building and construction sector accounting for 40% of the world’s CO2 emissions, Lafarge says 3D printing offers solutions to address both challenges. It adds that, by building more with less, it is instrumental in accelerating the speed of construction, as well as reducing a building’s footprint.
The purpose of the hack is to come up with solutions that leverage new designs to optimise the use of material, improve the speed of construction and enhance aesthetics and customisation potential of a residential building.
“We are convinced that 3D printing will be key in answering the challenges our industry is facing and that we need to join forces to make this groundbreaking technology a reality,” said Edelio Bermejo, head of R&D for LafargeHolcim.
Experts and academics will share their advice and vision through a series of webinars and conferences. “3D printing redefines the built environment, shaping a naturally sustainable material with precision and real-time feedback for collaborating architects, engineers and specialists,” said Erwin Viray, head of the architecture sustainable design pillar at Singapore University of Design.
LafargeHolcim will provide the material used by students across the globe as well as technical mentorship. The Group will offer a E15,000 total prize pool and offer operational support to the winning team for 3D printing their project at full scale.
