In April 2022, the city of Fianarantsoa in Madagascar opened Bougainvillea, a 700 square foot 3D-printed school that can accommodate up to 30 students at a time.

Bougainvillea took seven years to manufacture, but it only took 18 hours to print the walls and three weeks to complete the structure.

Bougainvillea was created in partnership with Thinking huts and the University School of Management and Technological Innovation (EMIT) at the University of Fianarantsoa.

The school’s students are aged 16-18 and are the first in a series of honeycomb campuses that will help primary and secondary students aged 4-16.

The new 3D printed school was born from the vision of a 22-year-old entrepreneur, Grout Maggie, through his non-profit organization, Thinking Huts. Thinking Huts focuses its business on innovative human-centered solutions to solve the world’s problems.

According UNESCO, one out of three Malagasy children will not complete primary school. For those who finish primary school, 97% of ten-year-old Malagasy children cannot read simple sentences.

The school is a hybrid design by architects Bruno Silva and Yash Mehta of Defining Humanity. The roof, doors and windows are locally sourced and the walls are made of a cement mix capable of withstanding the environmental pressures of the region. The team involved local fabricators in the construction process, which allowed them to teach 3D operational skills that can be applied to future construction projects.

Bougainvillea was 3D printed by 14 treesa company experienced in printing buildings across Kenya and Malawi.

In a statement, Grout says Bougainvillea (Hut version 1) will be bred in urban and rural areas where the need is greatest in the future. Their concept is to create honeycomb campuses on the scale of several interconnecting huts.

“Drawing inspiration from the beehive, it symbolizes the coming together of people to form a community that only thrives when everyone works towards a common mission,” Grout said in a statement. “3D printing helps reduce waste and construction time.”