One of Europe’s largest brownfield development projects has had its preparation and planning phases advanced with the introduction of SLA 3D printing.
Barking Riverside will deliver over 10,800 new homes to East London, but it won’t be without the aid of Hobs Studio, a UK-based 3D printing company. Working alongside Barking Riverside, Hobs Studio has printed a 3.60m x 2.6m x 1m master plan model of what the development will look like. The largest of its kind in the UK, the master plan model captures the ambition of the housing project and presents the future vision of Barking Riverside in three dimensions. Just as the physical neighbourhood will, the model boasts over 1,000 buildings, though at a 1:750 scale.
“At Barking Riverside, we are dedicated to investing in the best of future technology to help bring to life our vision for the development,” said Matthew Carpen, Project Director for Barking Riverside Ltd. “We are pleased to be championing the use of this technology for the industry.”
The model has been printed on an iPro 9000 XL, the largest SLA 3D printer in the UK, at the Hobs Studio in Central London. With a build area of 1500mm x 750mm x 550mm, the model was printed in four and a half weeks, and used approximately 35 litres of resin.
Hobs Studio has a partnership with a company who flies Lidar planes over the Barking Riverside location, scans the area feeding the data back to the 3D printing company. The time saved in the building of the model, can now be used in the finishing of the product, meaning greater detail.
“The reason Barking Riverside and Hobs collaborated on this was that they wanted a model that could be updated as the scheme itself was updated,” said Nathan Stockill, Model Maker, Hobs Studio. “Up until this point we were always limited by what we can do with our hands and now whatever you can think, you can make.”
Michelle Greeff, MD of Hobs Studio adds: “Using technology and automation, 3D printing allows the production of models to run considerably faster, while also creating a more accurate and detailed result, through the use of 3D photogrammetry data. It’s not just the printing that is a complex process, post production is also key, without our specialist team adding in final details, to ensure that the model really captures the essence of Barking Riverside. We are proud to be the only company in the UK with the capacity to deliver such a large project to this tight timescale.”
The model will be available to view in the Experience Suite at the Barking Riverside Project office.
