Sustainable embankment staircase: custom-printed

Together with Weber Beamix, we have developed a flexible design for a 3D-printed concrete staircase. This is a simple and quick solution for staircases at locations such as embankments and stations and along roads, railways and canals.

The solution consists of a parametric design in combination with the possible options of the 3D printing factory in Eindhoven. The result is a precisely tailored staircase that can be delivered in just two weeks. The main advantage of the staircase is the CO₂ savings: no reinforcing steel is required and less concrete is used because the staircase has an open, non-solid cross-section. In addition, no shuttering is required, which means that the ECI value of the staircase is more than 50 % lower than a conventional embankment staircase.

In the Theemswegtracé project, we proposed printing three embankment staircases for the Port of Rotterdam Authority and in that way saved more than 1 tonne of CO₂. The client was delighted to visit the factory and see the staircases being printed.