3D-Printed local earth enduring as resonant artefacts of resilience.
Empowers architects of resilient communities with an affordable and scalable self-building alternative.
Mass-customisable form and surface enables communities to imbue cultural resonance.
Fosters interdependence and Country-centred design through inclusive, iterative processes.
3D-printed earthen structures are local, low-cost, efficient, and mass-customisable, though liberated from the onerous labour-intensity of traditional natural building technologies. Scalable and adaptable to changing conditions, this net-zero building technology gives us an opportunity to rethink where and why, what and how communities [re]build.
Mass-customisable, culturally resonant 3D-printed earthen structures compel the development of a novel architectural language. Ochre.systems’ projects aim to contextualise and iterate novel expressions of culture to be realised as ‘resilience artefacts’.
Integration of food \ waste to energy systems.
Rapid global development of material and structural performance standards to meet building regulations.
Estimated <20% of the cost of constructing typical prefabricated buildings.
Comparable with rammed-earth construction, though free of rigid forms, it’s possible to 3D-print a 3m earthen wall in one day. Successful 3D-printing with earth + biomaterials is dependent on the sophisticated calibration of inputs which influence the behaviour and ‘green-strength’ of the clay- based material.
Pozzolanic binders (additives) made available as by-products of the sustainable energy sector–such as biochar or bottom ash from Waste-to-Energy processing, or as biopolymer binders, such as alginate salts derived from seaweed–determine the extruded material’s green-strength during printing and when having cured, desirable high compressive strength with minimal shrinkage.
In Nov., 2021, the Australian Government listed Additive Manufacturing/ 3D- printing in its ‘List of Critical Technologies in the National Interest’, which is aligned with national and state-based ‘Modern Manufacturing Strategies’. (CTPC, 2021)
