The German company INSTATIQ, a spin-off of the Putzmeister Group, has unveiled the INSTATIQ P1 (Progress One)—a mobile robotic 3D printer for concrete construction. Unlike conventional 3D printers designed for smaller objects, the P1 is engineered to operate directly on the construction site and is capable of forming load-bearing concrete walls without the need for traditional formwork.
How INSTATIQ P1 works
The principle resembles standard 3D printing, except that construction concrete is used instead of plastic.
The printer receives a digital model of the building, and a robotic arm successively deposits concrete in layers, forming the wall directly at the construction site.
A distinctive feature of the P1 is that the system prints full-fledged monolithic load-bearing walls rather than just temporary formwork. The printing process utilizes concrete from a standard ready-mix truck, adapted for this application.
Operating range — up to 26 meters
The INSTATIQ P1 is equipped with an automatically controlled robotic boom 26 meters in length.
This allows the printer to cover a significant portion of the construction site, and once one section is completed, the machine can be moved to continue printing the next.
Mobility is precisely one of the system's key features: for a large building, it is not necessary to have a printer the size of the building itself.
Print speed
During a project in Germany, ZÜBLIN reported a printing speed of up to 10 centimeters per second, with a maximum output of approximately 2.5 m³ of concrete per hour.
However, the actual construction speed depends on the project, the concrete mix, the wall geometry, and other construction operations.
First major application
The P1 became particularly interesting not because of the demonstration prototype, but thanks to real-world construction projects.
In July 2025, ZÜBLIN announced the use of INSTATIQ P1 in the construction of three apartment buildings in Metzingen-Neu-Greut, Germany.
The top floor of one of the four-story buildings was constructed using a printer. The height of the printed walls reached 3 meters, and their thickness was approximately 16.5–19 cm.
According to ZÜBLIN, the load-bearing walls of the story could be printed in approximately four days.
Article updated: In 2026, the technology reached a new scale.
The most interesting update to the P1's history took place in 2026.
On June 30, 2026, INSTATIQ and ZÜBLIN/STRABAG announced the construction of a supermarket in Germany using mobile 3D concrete printing.
The project in Neubulach utilizes two mobile INSTATIQ P1 units operating in parallel during separate construction phases.
- over 1,300 m² of printed walls;
- approximately 292 m³ of printed concrete;
- wall height up to 7 meters;
- printing was carried out directly at the construction site;
- two P1s were used in parallel at certain stages.
The project is being hailed as the world's first full-scale supermarket built using mobile 3D printing for concrete walls.
It is not just the 3D printer itself that matters.
There is another interesting technology in this project.
A specially developed concrete from Heidelberg Materials, optimized for mobile 3D printing, was used for the printing process. Additionally, the project utilized evoZero cement, which is produced using CO₂ capture and storage technology.
- robotic construction + reduction of the carbon footprint of building materials.
What does this change in construction?
INSTATIQ P1 does not mean that traditional construction technologies will disappear.
Even in the supermarket project, 3D printing was combined with conventional structural elements—such as columns and ring beams.
However, the technology makes it possible to automate one of the most labor-intensive stages of construction—the creation of walls.
A digital model can be directly transformed into a physical structure, while the printer itself moves between different areas of the construction site.
Source: instatiq.com
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