NBBJ rendering by Atchain
3diligent seattle tower 179 x 413
Render of the Rainier Square Tower set to be completed in 2020.
3Diligent has additively manufactured 140 exterior curtain wall nodes for the Rainier Square Tower which is currently under construction in Seattle.
The manufacturing service provider was commissioned by Walters & Wolf, a commercial cladding company, to produce the nodes, which varied in dimensions up to one cubic foot in size.
Expected to be completed in 2020, the Rainier Square Tower is a sloping structure of 58 storeys, each floor between the fourth and fortieth storey stepping back. Because of this, the cladding system for each floor is set to have a different angle and thus require complex geometries to fit together. Every piece of the curtain wall required custom fabrication because of those geometries, and so v-shaped nodes were produced so as to bring together square cut parts of the curtain wall.
3Diligent ultimately harnessed its metal 3D printing capabilities to meet the specifications of Walters & Wolf, after the company preferred the printed prototypes as opposed to those produced with investment casting. These prototypes were assembled into curtain wall units before undergoing mock performance tests, and it was at this point Walters & Wolf decided to press ahead with 3D printing through to production.
“From an operations standpoint, we were impressed with 3Diligent’s consistency in delivery of highly accurate and complex parts in a timely fashion that was in sync with the production schedule we established early on,” commented Tony Parker, Project Executive at Walters & Wolf. “At the end of the day, 3Diligent upheld their end of the bargain – they simply did what they said they would do.”
3diligent seattle tower nodes.
Metal 3D printed wall nodes produced by 3DIligent.
“We were honoured when Walters & Wold engaged 3Diligent as its manufacturing partner for this project,” added Cullen Hilkene, CEO of 3Diligent. “Both the tower and these specific parts represent the sort of innovation that 3Diligent strives to enable every day. It was great collaborating with Walters & Wolf on such a compelling project and we look forward to seeing the complete tower in 2020.”
