BENGALURU: Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will declare open the country’s first 3D-printed post office remotely from the GPO Bengaluru on Friday morning. He will later visit the venue to take a look at this unique structure, which was readied in a span of 44 days, beginning March 21. It has been named ‘Cambridge Layout PO’.
While the building structure was completed by May 3, creating the drainage and water network took two months. Waiting for the minister’s availability took another additional month. A source said that after the formal launch, the present post office at Halasuru Bazaar will be closed and staff and material will be relocated here.
“The building, being constructed by L&T, is coming up on a plot of around 1,100 sq ft. The cost of the 3D concrete printing is around Rs 26 lakh with taxes. Other expenses like paver, drainage connection and water connection were done by the Civil Wing of the Postal Department at a cost of around Rs 40 lakh,” the source said.
Explaining the PO’s uniqueness, the source said in the case of this structure, the building has been printed on site as per the design. “This is perhaps the first public building constructed by this process,” he added.
The other 3D-printed building involves building the elements printed off-site in a manufacturing facility and then assembled at the site.