Tuesday April 25th, 2017
A first for France. In September, social housing in Nantes will be built using an industrial 3D printer.
With a floor area of 95 sq. m, the YHNOVA™ will have five rooms, curved walls, corners and openings of varying sizes. This house, designed by the architecture firm TICA, will be an amalgamation of complex architectural forms built using Batiprint3D™, a revolutionary robotic additive manufacturing technology, patented by the University of Nantes.
This cutting-edge technology is the fruit of interdisciplinary work between research teams from the Nantes Digital Sciences Laboratory (University of Nantes, CNRS, Ecole Centrale, Inria, IMT Atlantique) and the Research Institute of Civil Engineering and Mechanics (University of Nantes, CNRS, Ecole Centrale). The technology has the ability to deposit three layers of material using a polyarticulated industrial robot. Two layers of expanding foam are used as formwork for the third layer of concrete. Once the walls have gone up, the foam remains in place, serving as a double layer of insulation without creating a thermal break. The robot’s path is guided directly on the slab by a laser sensor, using the digital modelling of the house.
This process reduces the build time and ensures high-quality insulation. Using a mobile robot will enable the construction industry to rethink working methods in order to improve working conditions and limit the number of hazardous jobs or roles that cause MSD (musculoskeletal disorders). This will also help to strengthen the attractiveness of Building and Civil Works careers.
This project is part of the structural works “Gros-Œuvre 4.0” R&D programme led by Bouygues Construction and involves identifying, updating and implementing the structural works techniques of the future. The digital transition, robotics and prefabrication open up a new field for experimentation and rethinking the way that buildings are delivered.
Bouygues Construction is supporting this project by providing expertise and logistics. “The aim is to prove that housing can be built to the highest quality standards, for all trades, but using different methods. This is an initial step that will enable us to learn a huge amount in terms of creating the construction methods of the future.” says Bruno Linéatte, R&D Director at Bouygues Construction and responsible for construction methods.
This experiment will start in Nantes in September. Bouygues Bâtiment Grand Ouest will act as general contractor to construct the demonstrator housing for the social housing provider Nantes Métropole Habitat.
More details will follow in September!
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We’re continuing our visit to Switzerland, this time taking a look at our subsidiary Losinger Marazzi’s projects in the north-east of the country. Here are some great photos from 2016: – Greencity is the flagship project for both Losinger Marazzi and Bouygues Construction. It’s the first sustainable neighbourhood in Switzerland and is 2,000 Watts-certified. Having won […]
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This year, the Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena won the prestigious Pritzker Prize, which is considered the Nobel Prize of architecture. Aravena is known for his commitment to improving social issues; he is also the architect for one of the “suspended cabins” for the Jan Michalski Foundation, built by Losinger Marazzi. The Pritzker Prize, sponsored by the […]
Carbon-free driving with Bouygues Energies & Services! Following the installation of recharging terminals for electric vehicles in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, our subsidiary is now set to install around a thousand such terminals in the large newly-formed French region of Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées. The four-year deal is one of the most lucrative signed in France. To […]
April 2018 – Cédric Vilani, a deputy of the La République en marche (LREM) party in Essonne, publishes a reference document on artificial intelligence. It namely gives a few indications on the consequences of artificial intelligence development on the construction sector. At Bouygues Construction, are we ready?
One year after laying the first stone, the major structural works of Bordeaux Métropole Arena is already completed. The works and technical teams deployed all their ingenuity to arrive at this result. Let’s put a spotlight on this iconic project for greater Bordeaux and for Bouygues Bâtiment Centre Sud-Ouest. Why have a Bordeaux Métropole Arena? […]
