A trio of 3D printed residential faucets, dubbed the DXV Collection, has been named a 2016 R&D 100 Award finalist in the category of Process and Prototyping. The fixtures are the first ready-for-market residential faucets printed in metal.
The Vibrato, Trope, and Shadowbrook models are created using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), an additive manufacturing process that has been used to create plastic prototypes for years, but the use of DMLS for printing metal prototypes of this nature has not been done before.
A computer-guided laser beam fuses powdered metal into the shape of the desired faucet with high heat and pressure. As a solid metal block arises out of the powder, it is then hand-finished to smooth extraneous metal and reveal the design. An artisan then hand-finishes the design to give it a patina and a feel that mimics the texture found on antique silver pieces.
Each faucet in the collection showcases a unique way of delivering the water and opens up the door for numerous other design possibilities.
In addition to being named an R&D 100 Award finalist, The DXV collection has also been awarded by the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show as the Best in Show Gold winner in the Bath category; a Best of BDwest Product Design Award from Boutique Design; a Platinum A’ Design Award; and a Silver International Design Excellence Award (IDEA).
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Lifestyle Hotel Trends Around the World
When the Rocco Forte Collection opens the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort in Sicily in early 2009, the 200-room luxury property will be one of the world's newest lifestyle hotels. Lifestyle hotels cater to guests seeking a heightened travel experience, which they deliver by offering distinctive—some would say avant-garde, or even outrageous—architecture, room design, amenities, and en...
| Aug 11, 2010
Special Recognition: Kingswood School Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Kingswood School is perhaps the best example of Eliel Saarinen's work in North America. Designed in 1930 by the Finnish-born architect, the building was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style, with wide overhanging hipped roofs, long horizontal bands of windows, decorative leaded glass doors, and asymmetrical massing of elements.
| Aug 11, 2010
Giants 300 Index and Methodology
BD+C's annual Giants 300 list consists of U.S. firms that designed or constructed the largest volume of commercial, institutional, industrial, and multifamily residential buildings in 2008. Each spring, the editors survey the country's largest firms, ranking the top 300 across six categories: architects, architect/engineers, engineers, engineer/architects, contractors, and construction managers.
| Aug 11, 2010
The pride of Pasadena
As a shining symbol of civic pride in Los Angeles County, Pasadena City Hall stood as the stately centerpiece of Pasadena's Civic Center since 1927. To the casual observer, the rectangular edifice, designed by San Francisco Classicists John Bakewell, Jr., and Arthur Brown, Jr., appeared to be aging gracefully.
| Aug 11, 2010
Education's Big Upgrade
Forty-five percent of the country's elementary, middle, and high schools were built between 1950 and 1969 and will soon reach the end of their usefulness, according to the 2005–2008 K-12 School Market for Design & Construction Firms, published by ZweigWhite, a Massachusetts-based market-research firm.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Technology
19. Hybrid Geothermal Technology The team at Stantec saved $800,000 in construction costs by embedding geothermal piping into the structural piles at the WestJet office complex in Calgary, Alb., rather than drilling boreholes adjacent to the building site, which is the standard approach. Regular geothermal installation would have required about 200 boreholes, each about four-inches in diameter ...
