Made for Manhattan

- 3D printing a scale model of a the latest New York apartment complex

by

Architecture is one of those applications that 3D printing has just always fitted with; the ability to create physical models quickly has become a priceless tool in an architect’s kit. LGM has been perfecting the process since 2000 and Senior project Manager, Patrick Fleege, talked us through creating an incredible 3D printed model for a futuristic Big Apple apartment complex.

LGM developed a working relationship with DDG Partners, a real estate design, development, construction, and asset management firm, building various models for projects in New York. While DDG initially approached LGM for concept, structural and basic massing models, they began pushing the boundaries to include more elegant and detailed models as their knowledge of 3D printing and its CAD requirements increased.

The sales team was looking for a dramatic sculptural piece that would anchor the showroom. LGM selected a scale of 1:96 scale model and began making samples on plaster (CJP/ZCorp) printers and SLS parts to determine the best way to produce the six-foot tall print.

LGM primarily uses powder-based processes because they allow complex overhanging geometry like decks, railings, and trusses to be built without supports. In addition, due to the partial recyclability of powder processes, material costs are lower for large hollow objects.

Cost saving and aesthetic reasons meant DDG chose plaster models but the weaker material properties meant that certain details were “too thin to print”. Fortunately LGM is a multidisciplinary shop with laser cutting, engraving, and CNC machining, the team crafted the primary structure and then inset laser cut acrylic windows with laser cut window frames to provide the higher resolution look, traditionally associated with hand assembled architectural modelling.

The main challenge was not the overall timeline, but the fact that the teams were aware that changes would occur late into the build cycle. In particular, the penthouse, entrance, and some amenities in the middle of the structure were designed much later than the residential floors. To deliver the model in time, LGM needed to find a way to build a structure without starting at the bottom, top, or middle.  

DDG wanted each apartment to light up either individually or in combination with similar units, controlled by a tablet computer. The model needed to answer buyer questions like “Where are all the 3 bedroom units located?” or “Show me where the meeting rooms are.” The lighting package required the interior of the model to be divided into discrete spaces designed to prevent light leaking from one space into another but simple to wire and assemble. Therefore the model required room for a control computer, power supply, and Wi-Fi antenna.

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Designs are seldom printed directly from the architect’s native CAD, there is considerable manipulation and “virtual modelmaking” where an experienced scale modelmaker interprets the original design to create a product that looks appropriate at scale and works within the material and build properties of additive. For the DDG model, brick patterns, corner detail, and window trim all had to be modified. The digital interior was stripped out and replaced by light box walls, LED mounts, and 3D printable wiring chases for the LED controllers and power cables. The roof mechanical enclosure was engineered to hold the electronics while the power supply was located inside a marble plinth built by the project masons in New York. Due to the relative weakness of the gypsum plaster prints, the model was constructed with a second aluminum pipe as a spine that also served as a conduit for power to the computer.  

LGM completed the actual printing on seven gypsum printers in roughly a week of machine time. The team started with floors 7 through 15 and worked around missing data, when a unit changed, it was reprinted independently, without disturbing the rest of the structure. The final assembly should have been the simple stacking of prints onto the aluminum spine and gluing them in place. As nothing in prototyping goes perfectly, the aluminum arrived oversized and had to be hammered into place in a white-knuckle operation. Fortunately nothing broke.  Commercial additive fabrication combined with traditional model-making craft yielded a product that was innovative, cost effective, and upheld the contemporary aesthetic of this unique real estate project.