Holcim launches Phoenix, the first-of-its-kind 3D-printed concrete masonry bridge built with 10 tons of recycled materials, at its Innovation Hub in Europe. Using its proprietary ECOCycle® circular technology, Holcim developed a custom concrete ink for Phoenix with recycled materials inside. Phoenix demonstrates how circular construction combined with 3D concrete printing can enable lowcarbon infrastructure applications.
Circular construction, using computational design and 3D printing, allows for a reduction of up to 50% of the materials used with no compromise in performance. Circular by design, Phoenix stands solely through compression without reinforcement, with blocks that can be easily disassembled and recycled. Holcim and its partners are now exploring how Phoenix could be scaled up to provide more generalized sustainable infrastructure solutions.
Built in partnership with Block Research Group at ETH Zurich, Zaha Hadid Architects Computation and Design Group and incremental3D, Phoenix resulted from the partial recycling of aggregates from the originalblocks of Striatus, the first-of-its-kind 3D concrete printed bridge launched by the partners during the 2021 Venice Biennale of Architecture.
