A fiber-reinforced plastic matrix acts as scaffolding that can be paired with conventional building materials to expand envelope design possibilities. By HALLIE BUSTA Branch Technology Chattanooga, Tenn.–based startup Branch Technology is using a large-scale version of this robotic arm to 3D print the core of its novel panelized wall system. Additive manufacturing in architecture is in a race to the top—building bigger and better under tighter deadlines and with increasingly complex materials. But the technology is proving to be valuable in design and construction. Some architects are using it to push the boundaries of scale and form , while others are harnessing its precise nature to create component parts or accessories . Chattanooga, Tenn.–based architect Platt Boyd, AIA, is working somewhere in between. He is the founder and CEO of a four-person startup, Branch Technology , that is developing a modular wall system pairing a free-form, 3D-printed open matrix core w
