Starbucks Opens Its First 3D-Printed Store

What can you build with a 3D printer? Starbucks just printed itself a new store — a drive-through location in the southern tip of Texas.

Fast Company says it's a store that "looks more like the future of construction than your average café." Built with layers of concrete piped out by a giant robotic printer, the 1,400-square-foot structure is part of the company's ongoing effort to modernize operations and trim costs... Peri-3D, a German company, used a giant 3D printer to pump out layers of concrete mixture to create the structure. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the cost for building the small scale coffee shop was about $1.2 million...

Of course, the new method is a first for the brand. And builders say, the more they use the technology, the more efficient they are at it. In Georgetown, Texas, an entire community of 100 homes was recently built using 3D-printing. The company who built the community, Lennar, says they're seeing costs drop with each build. Stuart Miller, chairman and co-CEO of Lennar, told CNBC earlier this year that the construction company says their costs and cycle time go down "by half" by adopting 3D-printing. "This is significant improvement in evolving a housing market that has the ability to change over time and being more adaptable and more functional in providing affordable and attainable housing for a broader swath of the market," said Miller...

3D-printing is also much faster, meaning that projects can be completed in a fraction of the time, potentially drastically cutting labor costs. According to the World Economic Forum, 3D-printing can cost just 30% of what building structures the old-fashioned way costs.
The article offers more examples of 3D-printed buildings. ("in Japan, a 3D-printed train station was just erected. And Peri-3D, itself, has completed at least 15 construction projects, including residential buildings in Europe and Germany.")

3D-printing has even been incorporated into some restaurants for customizing food, the article notes, "but building restaurants with the technology is a brand-new development."

Although not everyone seems convinced. Instagram comments on a picture of Starbucks' new 3D-printed drive-through characterized its aesthetic as "dirty", "fugly", "violently hideous", and "like hot garbage".

Thick layers

[snikulin]

I hate them in my prints

3D construction printing is in its infancy

[localroger]

Builders will have to learn what they can do with it, and what they can get away with, by experience. 3D printing allows walls to flow and make shapes that are all but impossible, or at least very expensive, with conventional techniques. Curves also make them stronger. But it's not clear just how well 3D printed walls will hold up to age and catastrophe. Eventually techniques will evolve to soften the layered look or at least vary it some. There is still no real consensus on what to do about roofs, and end of life demo promises to be a whole new thing. But there's certainly room to explore a technology that just needs to be hosed out after a flood, can't burn, and might be earthquake proof.

$1.2 million ?

[Art Challenor]

How is $1.2 million for 1400sqft a deal?

Re:

[Tony Isaac]

Maybe not a deal, per se, but note out of range compared to the average.

https://www.vettedbiz.com/star... [vettedbiz.com]

Re:

[Art Challenor]

I suppose it depends on what's included but even then $850/sqft is still a surprisingly high number, even if you include high-end fixtures and fittings. The coffee equipment is not that expensive. This is in Brownsville, not a notably high cost area, maybe the total cost includes site purchase, then it might start to add up - but it's a little disingenuous to include that since stick-frame construction would also have that cost.

Re:

[Tony Isaac]

According to the article, the $1.2 million is just the building, not the entire startup costs. If you look at the breakdown in the linked page, you can see that the building itself is only about half the total cost.

Re:

[Art Challenor]

This article https://krghospitality.com/202... [krghospitality.com] , linked from the FC article say $480/sqft for a coffee shop, but that included everything, insurance, staff training, etc. etc. The FC article suggests that this was more of a POC and not expected to be economical. I'd absolutely accept that, and the idea that costs for this approach could be expected to come down over time, except the emphasis of the summary is how efficient/cost-effective this approach is.

rebar?

[caseih]

Was hoping for a bit more detail than the article gave. Concrete is great and all but how do they make it earthquake resistant? Or survive broad face hurricane winds on a 20' tall flat wall? Can they put rebar in the walls?

it's a solution in search of a problem

[OrangeTide]

Generally 3D printed buildings are garbage. You add the rebar after you print and epoxy it to walls. You can use a lot less concrete with a 3D print, but you don't really save any money compared to just putting some traditional forms up and filling it with concrete. And optionally for insulation (sound and thermal) building with voids, then filling them with a non-structural foam concrete. it's also a chance to handle moisture more effectively than with monolithic concrete, but it's less labor than stacking

UGLY!

[HiThere]

I suppose it's a matter of taste...but UGH!
(There's a link to a picutre of it in the article. No wonder they didn't want to put that picture in the article.)

Re:

[Kotukunui]

I think its weirdness is part of the deal. A distinctive talking point. An ugly, brutal, distinctive talking point.

Re:

[Tony Isaac]

Agree. They could make it a lot more attractive by using a little plaster.

Demonstration Video

[jacks smirking reven]

Since I was curious you can see the thing in action

COBOD 3D Printing & Finish Options Displayed at World of Concrete 2022 [youtube.com]

I've seen these before but I do always love that it really is just as one would imagine as a "3d printer". "Gantry and squeeze goo from nozzle" just make it bigger and change the goo.

a dirt collector

[ZipNada]

It seems like all those layered ridges would eventually accumulate dirt, and the rough raw concrete look is very unappealing. They should incorporate a smoothing mechanism when it is printed, or coat it with stucco.

Quotes from another article about 3-D building.

[Futurepower(R)]

Article:

12 Examples of 3D-Printed Houses [builtin.com]
3D-printed houses can be made in a matter of hours at a fraction of the cost of conventional construction methods.

Quotes:

"With minimal human oversight, these highly customizable structures can be built on-site or off-site within a matter of hours at a fraction of the cost."

"Following a digital blueprint, a 3D printer will dispense a paste-like mixture. This will consist of choice ingredients — often a cement blend — but can range from sand and

Gotta admit

[Ol Olsoc]

That place is as spot on ugly as their coffee sucks. Quite fitting.

Brutalist architecture called, they thank the 3D printers for making Brutalism not the ugliest buildings ever.

Welcome to Tatooine

[zawarski]

May I take your order?

After some thought....

[ndsurvivor]

After some thought.. I do not need a huge place to live. I have more space than I need. I would like maybe a 16x12 foot space, with a computer, TV, toilet, fridge, and kitchen. I do have a much larger space that I don't need. I also wonder if Clay could be used to 3D print a home? Burn some wood on the inside and outside. Apply some paint maybe? I am just brainstorming. A nice fireplace would be very cool too.

any shape you want ...

[pz]

You can build in any shape you want, as long as it is an extrusion without any overhangs, and you don't mind an ugly layering effect.

Last decade's AI

[Princeofcups]

There is no AI. At the same time, contrary to all the hype of the last decade, 3D printing sucks. Look at the thing. Just like AI requires basically a complete rewrite/session of photoshop to get anything decent, 3D prints require significant clean up to be anything usable. OK, there is clean 3D printing if you are willing to use a hugely expensive printer and specific print materials to make basic shapes. Where's all that 3D printed world hundreds of posts here predicted? The only real difference bet

3d printer claims make no sense

[hydrodog]

More efficient than traditional construction by hand, sure. But why on earth would you use a 3d printer to print individual houses when you can just fabricate pieces and lift them in place with a crane? If there is an advantage to building on site, then a mobile fab in a trailer, but molds, prefab walls, are much, much better. I am much more excited by panels being produced in a factory with a waterproof/fireproof layer, insulation, structures, these are fundamentally better than just squirting out concret