The world’s tallest 3D-printed building is in Graubünden
Tor Alva has been officially opened. The white tower in Mulegns is the tallest 3D-printed building in the world. It was realised by the Nova Fundaziun Origen cultural foundation in collaboration with ETH Zurich and demonstrates that digital construction enables load-bearing structures without formwork.
The Graubünden cultural foundation Nova Fundaziun Origen has realised the world’s tallest 3D-printed building together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH). The new landmark of the mountain village of Mulegns at the foot of the Julier Pass is called Tor Alva, the white tower. According to an ETH report, it was inaugurated in the presence of Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and ETH President Joël Mesot. Parmelin expressed his conviction that the building “will become a place of cultural and touristic encounter” and can stop the place from dying out.
Tor Alva was printed in five months on the ETH Hönggerberg campus. The parts were then assembled in Savognin GR and transported to Mulegns by heavy goods vehicle along the Julierstrasse. This pioneering building, which is reminiscent of the tradition of Graubünden confectioners, demonstrates how digital construction enables load-bearing structures without formwork. Over four storeys, 32 sculptural columns of white concrete grow upwards, becoming increasingly slender and finally joining together at the very top to form a kind of open dome.
An industrial robot applied the concrete layer by layer. A new mix was developed at ETH for this purpose, as well as the innovation of a reinforcement that grows with the building together with the ETH spin-off Mesh and Zindel United. A second robot places ring-shaped reinforcement bars in the fresh structure every 20 centimetres. In addition, vertical longitudinal reinforcement bars were inserted after printing. In addition, the researchers developed a new test procedure that allows the load-bearing capacity of 3D-printed concrete to be reliably calculated for the first time.
Guided tours of the White Tower will be offered daily from 23 May. From July, it will also serve as a venue for theatrical performances. The tower in Mulegns will stand for around five years. After that, it can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere.