Reframing 3D Concrete Printing through a Sustainability Lens
Reframing 3D Concrete Printing through a Sustainability Lens
Speaker:
Dr Katie Heywood
Summary:
3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) has grown rapidly in popularity as a fabrication method promising to reduce architecture’s vast concrete consumption. Yet its role in supporting broader sustainability strategies remains unexplored, with most built projects limited to monolithic construction practices that are misaligned with current sustainability prioroties.
This presentation reframes 3DCP within these prioroties, particularly carbon reduction and circularity, discussing how repositioning 3DCP as an enabling technology can unlock new design opportunities. By situating 3DCP within hybrid material and construction contexts, the session explores how architects can deliver beautiful, novel solutions that fulfil our professional sustainability goals and our broader responsibilities to the world we inhabit.
This talk was delivered online on 13 May 2026. Talk duration is 49 minutes.
Speaker Bio:
Katie is an architect and researcher working at the intersection of design, materials and digital fabrication. With particular emphasis on 3D printing and robotic fabrication, she critically engages with sustainability, exploring how novel fabrication techniques can leverage broader aspects of sustainability in architectural design, and how these translate to industry.
CPD Details:
This talk is offered as a formal CPD activity for architects, mapped to performance criteria PC18, PC28, PC31 and PC39 in the Australian 2021 National Standard of Competencies for Architects.
A copy of the CPD questions can be accessed here. If you take notes in digital format during the video, you will be able to copy/paste your answers into the questionnaire at the end.
Upon completion of the video, a link to the CPD questionnaire will be unlocked. Submit your answers via that link to earn 1 formal CPD point and receive your certificate for record-keeping purposes. Note: The questionnaire link will only load if the video is viewed from this webpage. If you navigate to YouTube to view the video, you will not be able to access it.