Warsaw, Ursynów: Poland's first parkour park printed from 3D concrete

Cutting-edge 3D printing technology is changing sports construction

In 2021, the world's first parkour park made with 3D printing technology was built in Prague. Its structure was built from recycled concrete, highlighting both the innovation and eco-friendly nature of the project.

Now Poland has joined this revolution. The Park Przy Bażantarni in Warsaw's Ursynów district is home to the country's first and the world's second 3D-printed parkour flowpark. FlowParks, a leader in the design and construction of flowparks for parkour and street workout, is responsible for the implementation. The use of a large-scale 3D printer allowed for the automatic and precise production of customized sports facility elements.

In an interview with Piotr Reczynski, CEO of FlowParks, we discover how 3D printing is revolutionizing sports construction, its benefits and whether it will become the new standard in the future.

Technological aspects

A new approach to construction: what prompted FlowParks to adopt 3D printing technology? What key benefits does this method offer in the context of parkour parks and other sports facilities?

Parkour is a sport based on creativity and adaptation to diverse environments. Both urban spaces and specially designed parkour parks mostly consist of perpendicular and parallel elements. On the one hand, this unleashes creativity to create a fluid and non-obvious overflow (sequence of movements) from straight lines, but on the other hand, the setting of obstacles dictates in advance the most likely jumps to be made. 3D printing makes it possible to create arbitrary curves, shapes and angles, and is revolutionizing the way to make multiple steps and planes within a single obstacle.

How does 3D printing with concrete work? How does the entire process - from digital design to printing of finished structures - work? How does it differ from traditional construction methods?

3D printing from concrete is the application of layers of a special concrete mixture according to a digital design. First we create a model in CAD software, and then the printer "draws" it with concrete, without the need for traditional formwork. Compared to classic construction, this is faster, generates less waste and gives great freedom in shapes.

Construction automation: how does 3D printing technology affect the construction process of sports facilities? Does increased automation allow for more precise execution and a reduction in execution errors?

Comparing traditional construction methods to 3D printing only makes sense in traditional facilities such as buildings, tanks, etc. In the case of parkour parks, which are innovations in their own right, it is very difficult to reliably compare the two approaches. It would be impossible or completely unprofitable to create a facility like ours in Warsaw in the classic way - whether with prefabricated elements or shuttering and casting on site.

Faster execution: Does the use of 3D printing reduce construction time compared to classic methods? How long did it take to print and assemble the structure in Warsaw?

Above all, 3D printing allows the design, production and readiness for transport to the construction site of the concrete elements themselves unattainable by traditional methods, even when considering simple shapes. Parkour parks, and concrete ones at that, are still being built relatively few times a year, almost every one is different, which from the manufacturers' perspective significantly hinders the process of, for example, preparing universal formwork for prefabrication or on-site construction.

The Warsaw site alone consumed more than 1,500 man-hours by our brave team, both in the field and on the shop floor inpreparation. We did most of the work in November and December, which was an additional challenge. However, we gained a tremendous amount of experience, verified a lot of assumptions and are already confident that every future park will be better.

Eco-friendly materials: the parkour park in Prague was made of recycled concrete. Did FlowParks also use similar solutions in the Pheasantry? What is the sustainability issue with this technology?

In our case, admittedly, we did not use recycled concrete, but a huge economic and environmental benefit was the lack of formwork. Wanting to realize unique objects with standard technology, it is necessary to produce formwork, which at best must be stored until the next realization, and most often simply disposed of. 3D printing with concrete allows us to reduce this problem to zero.

Materials and durability: What kind of concrete do you use for printing? Is it specially formulated for this technology to ensure durability and user safety?

Prints are made with a mix specially developed for 3D printing with a declared strength of min. 40 MPa. In practice, tests of samples have shown an average compressive strength of 60 MPa.

Practical aspects

Construction process: what was the step-by-step implementation like? What were the key stages - from the design, to the printing, to the assembly of the finished parts?

It all started with an exciting yet overwhelming vision, in which, having almost complete freedom of shape, we had the opportunity to create the first of its kind in Poland. For me, as the author of the concept, it was quite a challenge, because creativity had to be constantly verified by technological possibilities. A meeting with Warsaw parkourists gave me a lot, thanks to which certain general frameworks and the most important directions of movement were defined. The open approach and substantive support of the 3D printing specialists from REbuild was also invaluable.

The architectural and structural design is a long and separate story, where in order to do something unique we had to confront ingrained notions about concrete structures. The result is a hand rubbed wall surface instead of a "natural" one for 3D printing with visible layers.

The most difficult aspect of this particular construction was the very poor access for heavy equipment such as a crane or concrete pump. We spent a lot of time transporting and positioning individual prints in a way that did not disturb nearby trees and shrubs. We also gained a great deal of experience on multi-level obstacles, especially narrow, high walls. Thanks to the problems we encountered, we now know how to avoid them or how to deal with them better.

Challenges and their solutions: What difficulties did you encounter during the implementation of this innovative technology? Did anything surprise you during implementation?

The main difficulty I see in this and future implementations is convincing the audience - architects, officials or residents - of the unprecedented appearance of the elements. We all have our ideas about the appearance of concrete - walls - whether smooth or with visible formwork marks, but the view of the layers is surprising. Unexpected change always raises resistance at first, which we hope will subside over time.

Project partners: which companies did you work with on this project? Did you use technologies from Bosch Rexroth or other suppliers of automation in construction?

Our main partner in the project was REbuild along with the Lukasiewicz Research Network PIAP. It was with them that we worked on the technology and prototypes starting in late 2021. It was on our components that a 6x15 m working area printer was used for the first time, with Bosch Rexroth as the drive and automation supplier. This is definitely not the end of our adventure together, as the subsequent technologies they are working on in parallel trigger more and more creativity for me. I am definitely better at designing and coming up with new solutions, shapes, etc. when I know both the potential and limits of the technology.

The future of 3D printing at FlowParks

New projects: Is FlowParks planning any more projects using 3D printing? If so, where can we expect to see the next objects?

We have created several concepts that have been included in the design documentation for future realizations in Poland. We hope that tenders for their construction will be announced soon. Although they contain solutions that, based on our experience in Warsaw, we would prefer to avoid, at least we know what to expect in the implementation process.

At the same time, we are working on a new series of parks, focusing primarily on exports, which has been a key direction of our development for years. Our standard steel and plywood structures are doing their job, but innovation is one of our fundamental values - so we can't stand still.

Is 3D printing the future of sports construction? What are the limitations of this technology, and can it replace traditional sports infrastructure construction methods in the long run?

The share of 3D printing in the construction industry will grow steadily due to its enormous possibilities. The lack of need for formwork for concrete elements represents a breakthrough in the approach to the design and construction of facilities.

Adaptation to other facilities: Do you plan to use the technology to build other sports facilities, such as skateparks, OCR tracks, climbing walls or pumptracks?

Definitely yes. The FlowPark in Warsaw, despite its complexity, is one of the simpler examples of using this technology - mainly because of the vertical walls. The real possibilities will open up when we start rotating and shaping the obstacles after printing, creating surfaces inspired by skateparks, pumptracks, and forms we can't even imagine now. We look forward to seeing more realizations!

See the entire realization HERE