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3D Printing

3D-printed bus shelter goes into service

By Paul Ridden
December 29, 2017
3D-printed bus shelter goes into service
The WinSun shelter was 3D-printed at the company's factory and shipped to its currently location in Jinshan, China
The WinSun shelter was 3D-printed at the company's factory and shipped to its currently location in Jinshan, China
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Passengers admire WinSun's 3D-printed bus shelter
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Passengers admire WinSun's 3D-printed bus shelter
The WinSun shelter has been printed using recycled waste materials
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The WinSun shelter has been printed using recycled waste materials
The WinSun shelter was 3D-printed at the company's factory and shipped to its currently location in Jinshan, China
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The WinSun shelter was 3D-printed at the company's factory and shipped to its currently location in Jinshan, China
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3D printing has been slowly finding a foothold in architecture over the last few years, with an office going up in Dubai, a tiny house printed in Russia and a cheap shelter layered from clay and straw by WASP's Big Delta printer. Now WinSun Construction has revealed the world's first 3D-printed bus shelter.

The rather stark-looking WinSun shelter has been printed using recycled waste materials at the company's Shanghai facility within one night and subsequently shipped and installed at a country lane in Fengjing Ancient Town, Jinshan, China, that previously only had a stop sign.

Passengers admire WinSun's 3D-printed bus shelter
Passengers admire WinSun's 3D-printed bus shelter

Some of the support struts of the rectangular structure have been left showing through, while other areas have been covered over. Seating has been provided in the demonstration unit, with a small desk following later.

Source: WinSun

View gallery - 3 images

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3D PrintingBusShelter3D Printing
7 comments
Paul Ridden
Paul Ridden
While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before hopping over to France for 10 years, where he started work for New Atlas in 2009. Now back in his native Blighty, he serves as Managing Editor in Europe.

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7 comments
Static
Driving rain and its not a shelter anymore.
alan c
It looks like a typical architectural statement to me: Supremely ugly Not much shelter with that open back No view of arriving buses, except through what appear to be arrow slits And I really hope there is some steel in there to take the tensile loads....
Tom Lee Mullins
I think it is more artistic than actual shelter. Having it open on back without any protection from crosswind or the elements is not much of a shelter. It is just a creative bus stand.
Alien
Ugly!
Nik
Actually, its a short wind and rain tunnel. Architects produce pretty pictures, it takes engineers to make them ergonomically effective, and useful, 3d printed or otherwise.
CraigAllenCorson
Such a so-called shelter would be woefully inadequate where I live, and I suspect in many other places as well. The only protection it offers is from direct sunlight. If it's eighteen degrees below zero with a thirty MPH wind, you'd freeze to death before the bus ever got there. And if it rains with a bit of wind, you get wet, n two ways about it. As for the seats - the article says only that they are made of "recycled materials". If they have a high specific heat, that means that while the rest of you is freezing, your butt will be leading the way. The tops should be made of an insulating material, or "foamed" to reduce the amount of mass one's nether region must be in contact with. It doesn't seem like a great deal of thought went into this design, and New Atlas is touting it like it's something revolutionary. As a user of public transit, I can say that the shelters currently in use are far superior. At least, the ones in my area are.
CarolynFarstrider
I'm wondering what advantages this system offers over just building a shelter from locally available materials? It is ugly, looks as if it would not function well in extreme weather conditions, and has to be shipped in to its intended location. Why bother?