German Construction Company 3D Prints Its HQ Then Launches a Division Around It

The Company Built Its Own Office First

Matthäi Schlüsselfertigbau, part of one of Germany's 20 largest construction groups, did not run a pilot project on a small test structure. It printed its own new headquarters. The two-storey building in Selsingen, Lower Saxony, covers 364 square metres and was occupied in July 2026. The walls of both floors were printed in about 105 hours using Holcim's TectorPrint material, with the building's form coming directly from the digital model.

Why That Matters

Printing your own office before selling the service to paying customers is a credible proof of concept. Matthäi is not a startup experimenting with 3D printing. It is a construction company with over 3,300 employees and roughly EUR 1 billion in annual revenue. When it puts a technology through its own procurement and quality process, the result carries weight with other contractors who might be watching from the sidelines.

PERI 3D Construction, the technology partner and supervisor during the print, is one of the most experienced names in construction additive manufacturing. PERI helped realise Germany's first residential 3D-printed house and Europe's largest printed building, a 600 square metre structure in Heidelberg. That track record removes a layer of risk for a buyer evaluating whether construction 3D printing is ready for mainstream use.

The Machine

The COBOD BOD2 gantry printer used in Selsingen is not a small desktop rig. It was configured at 24 metres long, 15 metres wide, and 9 metres high. That footprint reflects the actual scale of building components, not scaled-down test pieces. The printer deposited TectorPrint, a lime-based material from Holcim, in layers to produce load-bearing walls directly from the digital model.

From Pilot to Division

Matthäi's decision to launch a dedicated 3D printing subsidiary follows the pattern of companies that move from experimental to commercial. The first project demonstrates capability. The second project, and every project after that, is revenue.

Bernd Mergard, managing director of Matthäi Schlüsselfertigbau, described the printed headquarters as an important step into the future of construction. The wording is standard corporate language, but the context is specific: a company that size does not create a new division around a technology it does not intend to scale.

What This Signals for Construction 3D Printing

Construction 3D printing has spent years searching for a mainstream contractor willing to use it on a project that is not explicitly a technology demonstration. A EUR 1 billion construction group printing its own headquarters and then forming a division to repeat the work for external clients is the closest the industry has come to that milestone. The building is occupied, the division is launched, and the question is no longer whether construction 3D printing works. The question is how many other contractors will follow Matthäi's route in the next 12 months.