3D Printed Concrete: How Robots Are Rewriting the Rules of Construction

About This Episode

In this episode of First Shift, Graeme Bryks sits down with Justin D'Angelo, the founder of Printera 3D, a Florida-based company that is 3D printing concrete at an architectural scale. Justin did not come from a construction background. He started as a desktop 3D printing enthusiast with an IT career, saw an article about a company printing a house, took a vacation day to go observe, and walked away a believer. Within eight months, he went from moonlighting with a small printer in his garage to raising capital and committing full-time to Printera 3D. Justin explains the technical process in detail. Dry concrete powder is loaded into a silo, hydrated at a precise water-to-material ratio, and pumped through a modified shotcrete system. Instead of a person holding the nozzle, a robot follows a programmed tool path to deposit material layer by layer. What makes Printera unique is their injection of a liquid accelerant right at the point of extrusion, which is a controllable variable. They can make concrete set in 30 seconds for thin columns with short layer times, or pull back the accelerant for larger, more complex pieces like artificial reefs. Everything happens in a controlled indoor facility, eliminating the weather variables that plague traditional concrete work on job sites. The company has carved out a smart niche. Rather than chasing the 3D printed housing market, which Justin believes is not quite price-competitive yet, Printera focuses on bespoke architectural and landscape features. Their biggest project to date is at 25 Water Street in Manhattan, a massive residential conversion of the former Chase Manhattan corporate office. There, they printed a 60-foot organic bench with integrated planters that gives the lobby a sense of permanence and personality that traditional methods would struggle to match. Justin also uses internally developed software built on Rhino Grasshopper that slices designs for the robot and calculates production time, material consumption, and approximate weight for each object. On AI, Justin takes a practical approach. His team uses AI for marketing materials, daily task management, website audits, and sees potential for AI on the production floor. He advises other founders to stay informed about emerging technology through personal interest rather than reacting to the flood of cold sales pitches. When he identifies a gap in operations, he goes out and seeks the right tool rather than letting marketing noise drive his decisions. For contractors and trades professionals considering bold new technology, Justin's advice is clear: do not get paralyzed by the planning phase. There is never a perfect time to start. Take the leap, commit fully, and things tend to work out when you put everything into making it happen.

Key Takeaways

• 1Printera 3D uses a robotic system with a controllable liquid accelerant injected at the nozzle, allowing concrete to set in 30 seconds to a minute for precise, complex prints.
• 2Their biggest project is at 25 Water Street in Manhattan, where they printed a 60-foot organic bench with integrated planters for a major residential conversion.
• 3Justin went from garage moonlighting to full-time founder in about eight months, proving the value of validating a concept before going all in.
• 4The company built custom slicing software on Rhino Grasshopper that calculates production time, material use, and weight for every object before printing begins.
• 5Rather than chasing 3D printed housing, Printera niched down into bespoke architectural and landscape features where the technology is immediately price-competitive.
• 6AI is used for marketing materials, task management, and website audits, with plans to implement it on the production floor in the future.
• 7Justin's advice for aspiring founders: stop waiting for the perfect plan. Get to market, act on your idea, and iterate as you go.

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