Meet the 50 Facilities Leaders to Watch This Year
Learn more
3D-printing firm Alquist is partnering with retail giant Walmart and other retailers to deliver more than a dozen commercial construction projects, a move designed to push 3D concrete printing from niche pilot programs into full-scale commercial use.
Printing a partnership: Alquist announced a new playbook to handle the demand. The model gives each partner a clear role: General contractor FMGI will handle on-site operations by owning and leasing the A1X printers, while equipment dealer Hugg & Hall provides the financing. This approach makes the technology more accessible to the broader construction industry.
Fewer hard hats, more robots: The partnership's goal is to print structural walls and infrastructure faster and more cleanly than traditional methods, directly targeting chronic industry headaches like project delays and labor shortages. FMGI claims its AI-trained robots can run around the clock, with a small five-person team supervising the operation.
Third time's the charm: The first job under the new model begins in December in Lamar, Missouri—Alquist’s third build for the retail giant. These new projects will build on Alquist's existing experience, which includes a nearly 8,000-square-foot expansion in Athens, Tennessee. While that initial build was a learning process, a second was completed in just seven days, setting the stage for this larger nationwide rollout.
The push to scale 3D construction printing is creating ripple effects across the industry. Alquist has also secured a deal with materials giant Sika to streamline its supply chain for future projects.
