Batiprint3D
Nantes spin-off of Nantes University whose on-site robot arm prints expanding polyurethane foam formwork filled with concrete; used for the 2018 Yhnova house.
Batiprint3D is a French construction 3D printing company based in Nantes. It was founded in December 2019 and launched publicly in January 2020 to commercialise a printing process developed at the University of Nantes by researchers Benoit Furet, Philippe Poulain and Sebastien Garnier. The work came out of the university's LS2N digital sciences laboratory (Laboratoire des sciences du numerique de Nantes) and the GeM civil and mechanical engineering institute. The technology transfer was supported by SATT Ouest Valorisation. The company is led by CEO Hedy Zouaoui, who comes from the building sector.
Process and robot. Batiprint3D does not extrude concrete directly. A robotic arm about 4 m long, guided by a laser, is set up on site and deposits successive layers of expanding polyurethane foam. The foam expands about 40 times, and each layer sets in about 30 seconds. The printed foam walls act as permanent formwork and insulation, and concrete is then poured between them to give the structural wall. According to the developers, walls built this way are about 30% better insulated than the thermal regulations of the time required. The foam used is described as recycled material made from plastic bottles.
Projects. The process was first used for Yhnova, a 95 square metre, five-room, Y-shaped social-housing house in Nantes. Its walls were printed on site in 2017, in about 54 hours of printing, and a family moved in in mid-2018. It was widely reported as the first house in the world to be lived in whose walls were printed on site. After the company was formed, press reports cited orders for a two-storey house called Empreinte near Angers (start planned for March 2021), a group of nine dwellings in Beaucouze near Angers and an eco-neighbourhood. Le Journal des Entreprises has covered the company's start of housing production, a challenge to print a multi-storey house and plans to build houses in China.
Status. In 2020 the company planned to raise funds and recruit about ten people over three years. No funding round, headcount or recent project data could be confirmed for this profile, and the official website blocks automated access. The company's current activity should be checked before publication.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
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Contact Batiprint3D
WEBSITE
https://www.batiprint3d.comHEADQUARTERS
France
Company Facts
Founded
2019
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
Europe
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
-
Funding Total
-
