Erecting a new building ranks among the most inefficient, polluting activities humans undertake. The construction sector is responsible for nearly 40% of the world's total energy consumption and CO2 emissions, according to a UN global survey (pdf). A consortium of Swiss researchers has one answer to the problem: working with robots. The proof of concept comes in the form of the DFAB House, celebrated as the first habitable building designed and planned using a choreography of digital fabrication methods. The three-level building near Zurich features 3D-printed ceilings, energy-efficient walls, timber beams assembled by robots on site, and an intelligent home system.

After the successful completion of the production of the material-optimised concrete façade mullions, Fabio Scotto and Ena Lloret-Frischti of the Gramazio Kohler Research Group at ETH Zurich and the Chair for Physical Chemistry of Building Materials, ETH Zurich take a look back at the experiments and prototypes which were necessary in the development of a final robotic fabrication process. The integration of Smart Dynamic Casting (SDC) for the production of the façade mullions for the first floor of DFAB HOUSE has led us to the development of an adaptive robotic setup which allows us to produce custom-made reinforced concrete structures. Until the final development of a robust robotic process, we had to overcome several challenges during the experimental and prototypical phase. Scaling down the production system and minimizing the friction forces Our first main task was to scale down the production system to realise structures with a minimal cross section of 100 70 mm. This had a direct impact on the formwork system we were working with previously.

At the Empa and Eawag NEST building in Dübendorf, eight ETH Zurich professors as part of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication are collaborating with business partners to build the three-storey DFAB HOUSE. It is the first building in the world to be designed, planned and built using predominantly digital processes. Robots that build walls and 3D printers that print entire formworks for ceiling slabs – digital fabrication in architecture has developed rapidly in recent years. As part of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication, architects, robotics specialists, material scientists, structural engineers and sustainability experts from ETH Zurich have teamed up with business partners to put several new digital building technologies from the laboratory into practice. Construction is taking place at NEST, the modular research and innovation building that Empa and Eawag built on their campus in Dübendorf to test new building and energy technologies under real conditions.