this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2025
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I kind of think that if they're going to do 3D printed structures, they'd do better to do buildings that can really play to the technology's strengths: the ability to create fairly-arbitrary, organic shapes.
I mean, what they've got there is basically a rectangle with rounded corners. I guess the rounded corners are aesthetically unusual, but it doesn't seem like it's buying Starbucks a whole lot.
Starbucks clearly has been willing to set up custom locations using all kinds of architecture in the past:
https://www.klook.com/en-PH/blog/beautiful-starbucks-around-the-world/
Same thing with McDonalds:
https://www.businessinsider.com/weirdest-coolest-glamorous-mcdonalds-restaurants-in-the-world-2020-5
You'd think that if you're going to use this exotic new construction technique that permits for a lot of unusual stuff, you could figure out a way to make some kind of eye-catching thing that leverages its strengths. Cost saving on construction is nice, sure, but...
The more complex the design, the more expensive it's going to be, even with this construction method. Starbucks is looking to do this as cheaply as possible.
Complexity doesn't really add difficulty to 3d printing. My 3D printer doesn't much care whether a head is moving in a straight line or doing a zig-zag. It's gonna just keep extruding that concrete.
Kinda like how a 2D printer doesn't much care whether you're printing a detailed image or a very simple one.
I guess that there's a material cost. But, then, that's also true of existing buildings, and they clearly don't optimize for that to the exclusion of all else, else there'd be no aesthetic used in designing those buildings.
Just coming from a civil engineering/construction perspective, the straight lines are probably more about alignment. In these kinds of buildings (and considering US zoning laws that require a certain amount of parking), sometimes the alignment is critical to ensuring the building, parking, and drive-through fit. Straight lines are easy to measure, draw, and check in the field. Not to mention the actual way these 3D printing concrete machines work. The ones I've seen online are on some kind of track, and these ones are no different. From the looks of it, they're kind of set up like those cranes you see at shipyards: https://youtube.com/shorts/igQ9G_Brkl8