For years, 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) has been an experimental novelty. Alquist 3D, based in Greeley, CO, is pushing the technology past the demonstration phase with their A1X, a robotic arm printer that lays down inch-thick layers at a whopping 200mm/s. This new approach to construction cuts down on time and wasted material, while also requiring fewer people. Alquist 3D is partnering with construction firm FMGI to build more than a dozen expansions on Walmart locations across the country using the new tech.
Alquist’s most ambitious build isn’t 30 new Walmarts or the first 3D printed house in Virginia. It’s the ecosystem the company is setting up to take 3D printing from the lab to the construction site. By teaming up with equipment distributors Hugg & Hall and general contractors like FMGI, they are solving the scalability problem that previously held back the technology and labor shortages that plague construction in general. Alquist recently sold 14 A1 Series systems, in what is believed to be the largest U.S. deployment of 3DCP.
