What, do you ask, inspires a company to create a 3D printed public restroom in the first place? Many things, including the 2015 China International Tourism Expo, where designers strutted their teched-out toilet stuff and a 3D printed toilet design made a special appearance, too. In fact, China may be the very first country with a public toilet agenda.
According to China’s National Tourism Bureau, the country is on a crash course towards a total “toilet revolution,” an initiative that entails upgrading public restrooms for incoming tourists. And what better place to start than with a 3D printed public restroom?
Construction company favorite, WinSun, is the brains and braun taking China’s toilet revolution to task, and so far, they’re leading by example. The entire site of the 3D printed public restroom is actually 3D printed, from the underground infrastructure to the interior and exterior of the restrooms. Even the decorations surrounding the public toilets were 3D printed by WinSun.
Parts for the drainage facility of the bathrooms were also created using WinSun’s 3D printing systems. And, in typical WinSun fashion, everything was printed off site in their factory and then transported onsite where it was all assembled. During installation, only the aid of three workers and a single crane were needed to throw it all together.
WinSun’s 3D printed public restroom project has given the company a chance to blend all of its other pet projects into one, seeing as the company has already explored 3D printing in urban construction areas, including urban water supply, drainage, sanitation, landscaping, underground utilities, and ancillary facilities.
The 3D printed public restrooms are officially open in the Da Yang Mountain area in Suzhou, which attracts a pretty large number of tourists. And keeping in line with the seamless scenery of the mountain region, the restrooms are surrounded by giant, 3D printed ginkgo leaves.
Getting to see how WinSun continues to push the boundaries of 3D printing technology in construction has been an interesting journey, and one that many never thought would end up in a public john. But the company has definitely come a long way from their debut in the industry when they were only able to 3D print a 2,000 square foot apartment building and then graduated to pumping out a mansion.
Now that they’re taking on bigger and more impressive projects (like a public restroom built to hold a much larger capacity of people) it’ll be even more interesting for the construction industry to see where WinSun will apply their skills. And who knows, maybe they’ll even start 3D printing the people, too, for ambiance.
For ZBRELLA Technology Consulting, I’m Christopher Clark, goodnight and good luck!
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