3d printed Limerick City Model unveiled...

FabLab Limerick recently unveiled a scaled architectural model of Limerick City, Ireland. It's a most amazing model, faithfully reproducing the Georgian grid and architectural detail found centrally in the city. It's a living model which will continue to grow over time.

The city was surveyed and photographed extensively, and the arduous task of painstakingly drawing each building and city block was undertaken over the past few months. The work was conducted by graduates of the School of Architecture at University of Limerick. The FabLab is run by staff, students and graduates of SAUL.

Blocks of builds were prepaired and printed on a selection of 3d printers, including RepRapPro Mendels, Mendel 90, and Ultimaker2 printers. Below is a small selection of photos from the recent open evening at which the city model was unveiled. The base board was CNC cut from digital maps to accurately reflect the city terrain, incorporating another digital fabrication process available in the facility. The model remains available for public viewing at the FabLab.

I'm sure we will hear more about this fantastic undertaking and achievement!

I had the honour of being asked to help out with the printing. The blocks practically filled my print bed and ran from 8 to 12 hrs print times. Printed in PLA, a layer height of .2mm was used on the city prints through-out. This brought out fabulous architectural details that were captured in the fresh drawings of these buildings. After printing a few of the city blocks I found myself examining buildings and city streets with a new eye in recent days! It showed me detail around the city I had never noticed. Printing parts of the city and scrutinising other printed blocks has been a fun and enlightening experience!

Thanks for viewing.