3D print helps to restore Italian palace
With historical buildings around every corner in Italy, costly and often time-consuming restoration is often required. One Italian firm has utilised the Massivit 1800 to restore part of a 19th Century palace.
Wednesday, 24 Oct 2018 15:06 GMT
The palace, overlooking the River Po, has been converted into holiday apartments which required a quick repair
Sismaitalia, the first business in Italy to buy a Massivit 1800, recognised a gap in restoration market that could be resolved using large format 3D print technology. The Palazzo Spada, located in the Ferrara region, was once owned by the renowned Spada family but now operates as a hotel. The firm was approached by the palace’s current owners, seeking urgent restoration of the crumbling façade of the capitals, a defining element to the French balcony design.
“With the capability to 3D print super large objects, we can provide our customers with exact replicas within a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional methods. This capability has seen us expand our service offering to existing customers as well as target new markets,” says Federica Tisato, marketing and communication manager at Sismaitalia.
The five capitals were produced in two sizes, with one set measuring 19” high x 17” long x 8” thick, and a larger set of three that each measured 31” x 31” x 8”. Using the Massivit 1800’s dual printhead, the capitals were printed in 20 hours. The capitals were then finished with plaster and painted to match the original counterparts.
With the capability to produce each full-sized capital in one print, we could eliminate the lengthy turnaround times associated with traditional restoration methods”
“With the capability to produce each full-sized capital in one print, we could eliminate the lengthy turnaround times associated with traditional restoration methods,” says Tisato, adding “beyond this, as the owners only required the 3D printed capitals for aesthetics, we could quickly produce the hollow structure and strengthen these with polyurethane foam to withstand the weight of the balcony. This ensured that manufacturing costs were kept to a minimum.”
So, it seems that 3D print is opening up opportunities across the architectural restoration world too, yet another market the technology can add to its belt.
Tisato adds: “From a business perspective, projects like these demonstrate the growing adoption of 3D printing in a vast gamut of markets. We anticipate that this capability will continue to open the door to new markets. In fact, to date, our Massivit 1800 has played an integral role in securing projects within the interior design and architectural sectors and we have a handful of additional restoration projects in the pipeline!”
If you have a news story, email summer@linkpublishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter to have your say.
