Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
The Guard House is a 3D printed concrete building which explores the architectural opportunities of full-scale 3D printing. By manipulating the construction process, this elemental structure fulfills the 24-hour programmatic needs of a guard house for sleeping, monitoring, and sheltering. All the essential building components are integrated in the structure using the 3D printing method developed by WinSun in Suzhou, China.
The guard house we designed is a play on edge conditions, between the right angle and fillet. It integrates furniture, a billboard, shelves, a bed, a bench, a cantilevered shelter from rain. It evokes cornices, is a play on roof conditions and corners, all of which can be mass customized due to a lack of predetermined formwork. During the process, HANNAH developed methods for integrating building systems such as lighting and electrical and took into account issues of transportation and on-site assembly.
In August 2016, WinSun 3-D printed the guard house prototype in their factory in Suzhou. The 3-D printed stratifications in the guard house are very expressive and constitute a distinct feature of the architecture, which we embrace: concrete 3D printing has its very own peculiar tectonics and construction logics.