Construcion of a two-story building has recently been finished within 50 hours by using 3D printing at the Community Healthcare Center in Lingyan Neighborhood, Xiongzhou Subdistrict in Nanjing. The building, designed with a red and blue color scheme, has a floor area of 60 square meters, and is the first of its kind in China.

"3D printing has long been used in the field of construction, but previously it was all building components, and the largest is only the size of a floor," said a manager from Nanjing KENYO Precision Machine Manufacturing Co Ltd, the builder of the facility.

The 6-meter-high printer has an operation area of 24 meters and can make large buildings on-site, without the need for additional assembly, thereby significantly reducing labor cost and time.

The printing nozzle, driven by the track, sprayed the raw materials evenly along the predetermined route. The whole building was finally formed after layers of stacking. Tests show that the facility meets requirements of residential building in terms of structure and safety.

Nanjing is one of the first batch of pilot cities for intelligent construction in China. It has introduced a series of measures, such as financing and standard setting, to promote the use of intelligent technologies in the construction sector and also help companies to improve the technological level and market influence.

In Nanjing, there already some exist outdoor objects made by 3D printing such as the fence installed at green spaces, street benches, and bus stops.

The Residents Central Square in Jiangbei New Area features a mini-circular building that was fully 3D-printed.

The Research and Innovation Park in Jiangbei New Area is home to a bus stop assembled with 3D-printed components. It took about four days to manufacture and install the cool bus stop in the shape of a "tape recorder."

(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

In addition, the public toilet on the South Square of Nanjing Railway Station also used 3D-printed components, which took on a modern appearance.