76 | Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. Each edition priority delivered to your door. i i i i li . www.waterfordpress.co.nz/subscriptions . t f . . / i ti 03 983 5525 Stay informed; we work with business owners and decision-makers across all economic sectors, profiling their success. t i f r ; r it i r i i - r r ll i t r , r fili t ir . businessnorth BUILDING Iconic Construction 3D concrete printed walls a first for Iconic The 3D concrete panels were used in the construction of a child care centre in Hamilton. T T Hugh de Lacy In an extraordinary breakthrough in construction, Hamilton company Iconic Construction has begun building houses using 3D (three-dimensional) concrete panels produced by computer printing. QOROX, the company that has developed and brought the technology to New Zealand, was founded in 2019 by Egyptian engineer Waefay “Waf” Swelim, and it’s arrived in New Zealand thanks to his marrying a Kiwi , moving here, and being persuaded by his father-inlaw to join him in working for the Hamilton construction company Fosters. Five years later Waf came across the 3D printing process in the Netherlands and brought it to New Zealand, with Iconic Construction being one of the first building companies to adopt it in residential and light commercial construction. “It’s amazing technology and we can see it having a huge impact on the New Zealand construction industry because of its time and cost saving benefits,” says Johnny Gordon, general manager of Iconic Construction and part-owner along with its founder Nick Lane. “We’re one the first companies to use 3D concrete printed walls in New Zealand, and we’ve already built a child-care centre in (the Hamilton suburb of) Maeroa using this technology. “Next we’ll build a 3D concrete printed show-home in a new subdivision in Hamilton. “3D printing offers big savings in both time and cost, but especially time, and this will improve as the technology develops.” The process begins with the wall designs being inputted into the computer that controls a robot that looks a little like a front-end loader. The sand-based concrete mixture is 80% sourced in New Zealand, 20% from overseas, and the robot prints the concrete into 12mm15mm layers, 35mm wide, on top of each other. A nozzle at the end of the robot’s arm delivers the concrete, and the completed wall has a hollow interior that’s filled with insulation before delivery to the site. “Virtually any shape or pattern can be created during the printing process, and the additive that QOROX imports from Europe allows the concrete mix to set in three minutes, so the layers can be stacked on top of each other without being squashed by the layers above. “The freshly printed walls are moved to an outdoor area to cure, and are ready to transport to the building site within 24 hours of the completion of printing.” Johnny says the process is fully compliant with New Zealand Standards, and during testing it was found that the 3D walls far exceeded all local requirements. “Price-wise 3D residential wall costs are similar to those of timber framing, while commercial applications are similar to installed decorative pre-cast panels. The walls of an average house can be printed in a week at a rate of up to 4.5m2 an hour, with the 50Mpa concrete weighing the same as ordinary concrete. The robot that prints the panels has a reach of 2.5m across and 5m wide by 4m high, and it can used either on-site or in the factory, though at this stage of the roll-out it’s more efficient to have the panels made at the QOROX factory and then delivered to the site for installation. Iconic Construction’s new show home will be completed by the middle of 2024, allowing new-home prospects to find out what a concrete home is like, and be part of this revolution in the construction industry. WAIKATO HUB CLARENCE ST • TE RAPA • HUNTLY MORRINSVILLE • TE KUITI Proudly Supporting Iconic Construction COMMERCIAL FLOORING | CARPET & GARAGE CARPET VINYL & VINYL PLANKING 0212116039 | westcoastflooringnz@gmail.com | FB: @westcoastflooringnz
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