3D Printing for Melbourne Theatre Building

Early 2009 saw the opening of the new building housing the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC). The building is somewhat of a visual extravaganza on the Melbourne Southbank Boulevard. You simply cannot miss its unique lines, design and impact on the area.

The architects responsible for the design were Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) claim they could only have achieved such an architectural feat with the assistance of unique new 3D printing technology.

They selected ARRK to create a 3d model of the building. The company has been using the Objet Connex500 for some time and has become invaluable part of their process in deploying this most advanced 3D printing technology available to many of their architecture clients.

Mr. Raggatt from ARM was quoted, "The new technology allows us to print multiple materials simultaneously using the Objet Connex500™ 3D Printer. The design for the Melbourne theatre company building involved an optical illusion that relies on the contrast of materials; we can now reproduce the impact of this affect with rapid prototyping at a scale and level of detail otherwise impossible.

In the past architects would use their trusted pens and paper to create their designs and then wait weeks or months to receive their (often times expensive) 3D model of their design. Now it's possible to use Rapid Prototyping* technologies such as those offered by ARRK, to create instant 3D Prints of models from CAD systems in minutes.