USA’s robot building boom continues with first 3D-printed Starbucks
https://newatlas.com/architecture/3d-printed-starbucks-texas/
USA’s robot building boom continues with first 3D-printed Starbucks
https://newatlas.com/architecture/3d-printed-starbucks-texas/
10 Comments
From the article: Though it started out as a futuristic-sounding niche proposition, 3D-printed construction is really taking off throughout the United States and the variety of projects being printed is remarkable. Following the construction of a Walmart extension, a Marine barracks, and even an experimental Mars habitat, the latest example of the cutting-edge technology comes from the USA’s first 3D-printed Starbucks coffee shop.
The new building is located in Brownsville, Texas, and has been under construction since late 2024. We don’t have any word from Starbucks as to when it will open other than “soon,” but local Facebook-based news account Brownsville Today says it’s due to begin pouring coffee from April 28. A government licensing document from 2023 suggested that the project budget came added up to almost US$1.2 million, though we’ve no word on actual build cost.
The project is being led by German firm Peri 3D Construction, which is also responsible for creating Europe’s largest 3D-printed building, and used a Cobod BOD2 printer. Installed on the site, the large machine followed a pre-made blueprint to extrude a cement-like mixture out of a robotically controlled nozzle in layers, slowly building up the basic shell of the building, producing the telltale ribbed look of the walls.
Once the printing process was finished, human builders were then tasked with adding windows, a porch area, and everything else required to turn a concrete shell into a functioning coffee shop.
I’ve always wondered if we had enough coffee shops
Just what we needed. More cheap lifeless architecture to sell us overpriced fast food and burnt coffee! Can’t wait until our entire landscape looks like a flat, 3D printed hellscape.
This is one of those instances where you’d better hope and pray the building never shifts. Also, inappropriate for any climate with freezing. All those layer divisions will trap water.
Damn for a future sub this sub sure struggles to imagine the potential for the future.
New technology takes a lot of optimism, this stuff is early in maturity, we should expect lots of improvement needed to be fully mature
Lots of z banding right there. I think they need to dry their filament and calibrate their extrusion.
Now this is the dystopian architecture I came for!
Love what it means for mass production and housing costs. We need some artists to help elevate it to the next level
Yet another article about “3D” printed homes with no mention of the costs.
I refuse to believe this method has any cost advantage over existing frame/wall building techniques. It’s not the walls that take the most time. It’s the plumbing, electrical, ventilation and finishes that are all unique and require different trades.
Until we have robotic journeymen and/or multi-skilled/multi-certified contractors in mass, we will continue to have a housing shortage.
Now 3D print me a barista that won’t give me an eye roll for ordering a regular fucking coffee without fucking it up somehow.
I think I saw a neighborhood being built with a concrete printer setup. people would still be around to add bracing, plumbing and other things as the layers were being added. Seemed like it could be a decent way to build but I didn’t see the numbers to be able to compare the price per square foot compared to the current systems and projected price per square foot as the technology and building methods improve. With so many different building codes across the country I’m sure regulation is a fun pit.