Madagascar Has Opened The Doors To Its First 3D-Printed School

A school in Madagascar is injecting technology and innovation into the literal walls of its classrooms as it becomes the first 3D-printed school in the country. 

The school, named Bougainvillea, was manufactured by the American non-profit organization Thinking Huts which worked in tandem with the Université Ecole de Management et d’Innovation Technologique (EMIT). Architects Bruno Silva and Yash Mehta of Defining Humanity came up with the honeycomb-like structure. 

Bougainvillea is a 700-square-foot campus that has a capacity for 30 students at any one time. The doors, roofs, and window frames are made out of locally-sourced materials, while the walls are made from cement. The school worked with the 3D-printing company 14Trees, which taught local constructors how to operate 3D printers at the same time during the building process. 

The school will house students from elementary education right up to high school. According to UNESCO, one out of every three Malagasy students will not be able to complete elementary school. 

In a statement via Forbes, Thinking Huts founder Maggie Grout says that the decision to create a honeycomb structure was to enforce the idea of a community working together to achieve its goals. 

Bougainvillea is set to pop up in different urban and rural areas around Madagascar where complexes such as these are needed most. 

[via Interesting Engineering and Forbes, cover image via Thinking Huts]