Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters
Dutch Design Week: architect Brian Peters has adapted a desktop 3D printer to produce ceramic bricks for building architectural structures (+ movie).
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-1.jpg)
"I've been working with desktop 3D printers for the past couple of years and wanted to transform the machine to build something on a larger, more architectural scale," Peters told Dezeen.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-4.jpg)
A 6-week residency at the European Ceramic Work Centre in the south of the Netherlands provided him with the opportunity to experiment with printing ceramics from a liquid earthenware recipe normally used in mould-making.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-3.jpg)
The only modification required for the printer was the addition of a custom extrusion head.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-8.jpg)
The resulting Building Bytes project predicts that 3D printers will become portable, inexpensive brick factories for large-scale construction.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-5.jpg)
"You could have several of these machines working simultaneously on site using pre-made or locally manufactured material," he says. "It doesn't have to be necessarily ceramic - it could be concrete or cement or any mixture of building materials."
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-9.jpg)
Peters developed two approaches to construction using the bricks: a uniform structure using multiples of the same brick, or a varied structure where each brick is uniquely shaped to create a complex form.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-14.jpg)
"It takes 15 minutes to print a brick at the moment so I don't think I'd be necessarily competing with existing construction materials but the benefits are that you can design a custom-made house or structure and have it assembled on site," he said.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-13.jpg)
For Dutch Design Week Peters demonstrated the machine and showed some of the brick patterns he's developed at Schellensfabriek, a former textile factory in Eindhoven, as part of the Show Your Color exhibition presenting work from artists' residencies with Dutch organisations including the European Ceramic Work Centre.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-15.jpg)
Based in Amsterdam, Peters is co-founder of architecture studio Design Lab Workshop and is currently working with DUS Architects to create a large 3D printer for making full-scale structures.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-10.jpg)
3D printing is a hot topic at the moment and other applications of the technology for construction include a house that would be 3D printed in sections then fitted together on site and a robot that creates architectural structures from sand or soil. See all our stories about 3D printing.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-11.jpg)
Dutch Design Week took place from 20 to 28 October and you can see all our stories about it here.
![Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters Building Bytes 3D printed bricks by Brian Peters](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/10/dezeen_Building-Bytes-by-Brian-Peters-12.jpg)