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A new Starbucks location is laying down a latte innovation. This week, the coffee chain will open its first-ever 3D-printed store to the public. Located in Brownsville, Texas, the new drive-thru-only location was created in partnership with PERI 3D Construction, a company based in Weißenhorn, Germany.
In a video shared on Instagram, construction crews can be seen working alongside a robotic arm as it methodically lays layers of concrete to build the structure, much like a printer deposits ink, line by line, onto paper. A final image of the structure shows the familiar Starbucks logo and color scheme on the exterior. Unlike most drive-thrus, however, the walls of this one are grooved and layered — a subtle-yet-telling sign of the 3D printing process that was used to build it.
“Coming soon to brownsville, texas: our first 3d printed store in the u.s.,” the post reads.
In a statement issued to TODAY.com, a Starbucks spokesperson confirmed that the store is the company’s first 3D-printed building. PERI did not immediately respond to TODAY.
com’s request for comment. The new location, at 2491 Boca Chica Boulevard, is drive-thru only and expected to begin serving customers this Friday, May 2. Adeola Olubamiji, Ph.
D., is an engineer, technologist, CEO of Pathfinder Consulting and an expert in printing technologies. Speaking to TODAY.
com, she explains the store’s likely construction process and why it is an exciting path forward for the construction industry. “You’re building from scratch, from nothing, layer by layer,” Olubamiji says. “You feed a material in, like powder, and then it makes it into a semi-solid.
” Depending on the material, she says, the layers may be fused using glue, heat or other methods. “This technology combines the semi-solid with a polymer, so that each layer adheres to the next layer due to the polymer that connects them together, much like an adhesive.” She notes that Starbucks’ use of 3D printing suggests a promising future for the construction industry.
“I believe that for construction as an industry, it’s one of the practical applications of 3D printing that I’m looking forward to in five years, 10 years, for it to be actually widely adopted,” she says. “So I’m excited to see it coming into a large company like Starbucks that would get an opportunity to use it across multiple stations.” Olubamiji notes her belief that a major advantage of 3D printing is labor efficiency.
She says 3D printing can help alleviate workforce shortages, and while some jobs may be displaced, new ones are created in their place. “I would say, while it takes some people’s jobs, it also produces new jobs, because somebody is controlling the robot, the materials that is being fed, and somebody is making sure that they analyze the material, the quality of the material, and also new jobs have been created now with what we have right now.” How safe are 3D-printed buildings?While 3D printing is often promoted as a sustainable innovation, Olubamiji says the environmental impact depends largely on the materials that are being used.
“Over the years, one of the advantages that we have said about 3D printing is (that it is) more eco-friendly, is more sustainable. But like what Starbucks just built right now, they use a concrete-like material. Concrete emits CO2, which technically, you know, it’s in the borderline here.
” Still, she remains optimistic that future 3D-printed buildings will incorporate recycled materials, such as wood waste, to make the process more environmentally friendly. As for physical safety, Olubamiji is sure that Starbucks’ 3D-printed building was rigorously tested before construction. “I want to assure you that a lot of simulations, a lot of calculations, a lot of experimental knowledge had gone ahead of this,” she says.
“They would have met building codes and so many things.” Alex Portée is a senior trending reporter at TODAY Digital and is based in Los Angeles..
