VINCI Construction opens 3D concrete printing factory in Dubai to serve fast-growing  construction market

VINCI Construction, through its subsidiary Freyssinet*, is launching Concreative, a new company focused on 3D printing of high-performance concrete. The company offers a fully integrated service, from design to on-site installation.

In the first stage of its expansion, Concreative has this inaugurated a first design-build factory in Dubai to meet future demand in the regional United Arab Emirates market. The Emirate of Dubai introduced a strategic 3D printing strategy in 2016 with the goal of basing a quarter of its new buildings on 3D printing technology by 2030 and thus becoming a leading global 3D printing hub by the end of the next decade.

Concreative uses a technology patented by XtreeE, a start-up in which VINCI Construction is a partner and shareholder. The technology consists in extruding concrete layer by layer, with each layer printed via a digitally controlled nozzle.

The 3D concrete printing technology frees architects and designers from the restrictions of standardised formwork. It offers a way to design and build complex concrete architectural and structural elements, deliver personalised, customised solutions and control cost and time to market.

Its many advantages include cement savings of up to 70%, construction close to where it is needed and in areas that are difficult to access, and less arduous, less dangerous worksites.

Khalil Doghri, Middle East India Area Director at Freyssinet commented:

“Concreative is the result of a combination of two favourable circumstances: the arrival at maturity of the technology a year ago, and the decision by the United Arab Emirates to become a major construction market using and promoting 3D printing.”

“We applied the global approach that we are used to taking in our specialist civil engineering business activity. Beyond the technology provided by XtreeE, we developed the upstream and downstream services needed to put the architects’ ideas and the engineers’ requirements together and to put the goals of the Emirates into practice.”

The Concreative company is a direct result of the intrapreneur programme at Leonard, VINCI’s forward-looking innovation laboratory. Following an incubation phase in which the project was tested in real market conditions, and then customised coaching to further develop the business model, the start-up is now entering the United Arab Emirates market in association with local partners.