3D printing speeds up architectural model making – see how we make our master plans

Traditionally architectural context or master plan models would be made up by hand and the buildings produced in foam, plastic or wood finish. On such a model there could be 100′s of miniature buildings of different shapes and sizes and this could be very time consuming.

Most architects now design their work in 3D and often always design the surrounding existing buildings in 3D as well. With 3D printing we can simply print these physical models overnight and add to a base the next day. A recent example of an existing building placed within context to the surrounding buildings is shown on images attached.

We 3D printed over 100 buildings in 8 hours – all the buildings were hollowed with a 1mm wall thickness to ensure that we save on consumable costs and print time. The base was made up traditionally by laser cutting the paving and roads. We then simply add the trees and apply the 3D printed buildings to the allocated spaces. The model still has the look and feel of a traditionally hand made model but instead can be made in 1-2 days. This is often crucial for achieving tight deadlines and of course less hours spent on producing the model ensures a more cost effective option.

Another way to produce context models even faster is to 3D print the whole model including the base. Often we use ZMapping data to 3D print the surrounding existing buildings and then ensure the proposed more detailed building is a removable plug. This proposed building can be 3D printed in a different colour to highlight the location. The removable plug means that when changes are made to the proposed building the architect only this small section of the 3D printed model.

If you’d like to know more then please get in touch.