Qatar: 3D-printed school walls are nearly finished

A school coming out of the machine, wall by wall. In July 2026, the walls of a school in Qatar are almost entirely printed. A giant printer, the BODXL, lays down concrete layer by layer: the machine measures 50 meters long, 30 meters wide and 15 meters high. The building, announced and launched in 2025, is entering its finishing phase, with the roof, doors and windows, and interior fittings.

The project is part of a broader program: 14 public schools have been announced, and only two are planned to be 3D-printed. Printing began in June 2025. The schedule has slipped, though the announcement does not explain why. The official end of the printing work is expected in the fall. The building is billed as “the largest 3D-printed building ever constructed,” a label the announcement itself attributes to the project.

Site constraints shaped the method. Each school occupies a 100 m × 100 m plot, too small for the machine to cover everything in one go. The crews therefore dismantled, moved and reinstalled the printer 15 times. Printing is carried out at night to protect the concrete from heat. The same process allows shapes that conventional construction would struggle to achieve, or could only achieve at great expense: here, the walls undulate and recall the dunes of the Qatari desert. According to COBOD, the walls total 30,000 square meters, with more than 500 km of layers deposited.

For the students who will enter this building, its value will be measured in use. The first students are expected to settle in soon, and their experience will show whether the model lives up to its promises. For the rest of the program, its reach depends on this first test: France could draw inspiration from it if the model proves effective, but nothing is yet settled.