Environmental Essentials

With sustainability built into infrastructure, we can afford a greener way of life that is practical and effortless

In June 2021 the heritage district of Amsterdam welcomed a new high tech resident, a 12m-long stainless steel pedestrian bridge spanning one of the city’s historic canals. MX3D is the world’s first fully 3D-printed bridge, a pioneering project that fuses a cutting edge and sculptural design with energy efficient offsite production methods. More than a dozen sensors in the structure monitor the weather, traffic flow and the performance of the building materials, enabling long term tracking and adaptive reuse of the structure as usage patterns emerge and evolve.

Sustainable living used to be synonymous with compromise. Buildings were designed around the constraints placed on them by energy efficient or renewable materials. As well as significant cost implications, living sustainably required a massive commitment, both in terms of time energy, and on the part of the occupants.