A 3D printed school, reportedly the world’s first, has been completed in Malawi, Africa, and has welcomed students through its doors.

The school was built using a 3D construction printer from Danish 3D printing construction firm COBOD as part of a project with 14Trees, a joint venture company of building materials specialist LafargeHolcim and CDC Group, the UK’s publicly owned impact investor.

Printed in just 18 hours, the school was born out of a need to address Africa’s huge deficit in school provision, with UNICEF estimating a shortage of 36,000 classrooms in Malawi alone. According to 14Trees, this infrastructure gap could be bridged within the next decade alone using 3D construction printing technology, which the company claims has already been well-received in the country.

“I am very proud of how our colleagues at 14Trees have deployed cutting-edge 3D printing technology to solve such an essential infrastructure need,” said Miljan Gutovic, Region Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at LafargeHolcim Group. “Now that we have proven the concept in Malawi, we look forward to scaling up this technology across the broader region, with projects already in the pipeline in Kenya and Zimbabwe.”

Malawian school children receiving teaching in the world’s first 3D printed school made by 14Trees with a COBOD BOD2 printer. Photo via Bennie Khanyizira.

Solving school shortages with 3D printing

14Trees began deploying its 3D printing technology at scale to build affordable and low-carbon housing and schools in Africa last year. The project is initially being rolled out in Malawi before being extended to Zimbabwe later this year, and in time to Kenya.

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