​NTU Team Creates World’s First 3D Printed Bathrooms

​Congratulations to Assoc Prof Tan Ming Jen and his joint research team from NTU's Singapore Centre for 3D Printing to have found a way to build prefabricated bathroom units, without fittings such as pipes and the toilet bowl, within 12 hours using a 3D printer!

This was in partnership with Sembcorp Design and Construction, and Sembcorp Architects & Engineers. Now, bathrooms of future homes in Singapore could be built more quickly. A large 3D-printing robot took nine hours to print the 1.6m by 1.5m by 2.8m bathroom, and another 12 hours to print a second bathroom more than twice that size.

The technology could shave off nearly half the cost of prefabricating using concrete casting, which is estimated to be S$6,000 to S$7,000 per unit, said the team's principal investigator Tan Ming Jen. The cost could be reduced further if production is scaled up, Dr Tan told reporters.

Fly ash waste — which is produced when rubbish is incinerated — also forms part of the special concrete mix used for the 3D-printed bathrooms, helping to reduce their carbon footprint.

The structure is up to 30 per cent lighter, which helps to lower transport costs and wastage of materials.

For more information: https://www.ntu.edu.sg/sc3dp/news-events/news/detail/ntu-singapore-develops-technology-that-can-3d-print-a-bathroom-unit-within-a-day

See news release and NTU YouTube video.

Media Report:

- The Straits Times, 24 May 2019

- The Straits Times online (with NTU video), 22 May 2019

- Channel NewsAsia, 22 May 2019

- Channel 8, 22 May 2019

- Lianhe Zaobao, 23 My 2019

- The Business Times online, 22 May 2019

- TODAY online, 22 May 2019

- Lianhe Wanbao, 23 May 2019

- OpenGov, 23 May 2019

- The Malay Mail, 23 May 2019

- Business Insider, 23 May 2019

- PhysOrg, 22 May 2019

- New Atlas, 23 May 2019

- For Construction Pros. 23 May 2019

- All 3DP, 23 May 2019

- Shicheng News, 24 May 2019