Power2Build, an Angolan construction startup, estimates the current housing deficit in Angola at around three million homes, with the situation particularly critical in Luanda, one of the fastest-growing cities on the African continent.
With an entirely Angolan multidisciplinary team, Power2Build aims to contribute to reducing this deficit through the use of automated 3D concrete printing technology. Implemented on-site with large-scale construction printers from Danish company COBOD, the system is expected to accelerate construction timelines and improve building quality.
Large-scale cement-based 3D printing eliminates the need for traditional molds by precisely placing or solidifying specific volumes of material in sequential layers using computer-controlled positioning. The process involves three key stages: data preparation, material preparation, and printing.
Through this method, structural housing components are manufactured via additive construction. The printing system must be controlled by either a gantry setup or a robotic arm. A gantry system positions the nozzle within an XYZ coordinate framework, while robotic arms provide additional degrees of freedom, enabling advanced techniques such as tangential continuity printing. The integration of these systems into mass housing construction reshapes the labor landscape, reducing manual masonry work while increasing the demand for specialized labor in the planning and finishing phases.
Talking about 3D printing in Africa, especially in Angola, is talking about a future that is certainly written in the timeless world that we call today, without ignoring the identity facts that make up a society. And technology helps us express creativity combined with the traditional construction context and innovation. Aquitofel Mananga, architect
Power2Build's housing projects in Angola are constructed using the second-largest 3D printer in the world. COBOD's BOD2 series printers feature a modular structure composed of 2.5-meter-long units, offering a maximum build volume of 10 meters in height (up to two stories), 15 meters in width, and 45 meters in length.
These printers operate at speeds between 100 mm/s and 500 mm/s, with an optimal speed of 250 mm/s. Assembly and disassembly times are approximately 4-6 hours and 3-4 hours, respectively. The newer BOD3 model uses similar modular units on rails for enhanced mobility. It allows for printing heights up to 15 meters (three stories), with the same width and a slightly reduced length of 40 meters. It also offers faster assembly and disassembly times, 3-4 hours and 2-3 hours, respectively.
Looking ahead, this Angolan additive manufacturing construction sector is expected to explore new material compositions, including clay and soil-cement blends for 3D printing and modular concrete structures for social housing.
