On Friday, Starbucks will launch its first-ever 3D-printed location in Brownsville, Texas.
The corporation has been teasing the opening of the store, which is drive-thru-only and was created in partnership with PERI 3D Construction, a company based in Weißenhorn, Germany.
Last week, the official Starbucks Instagram account shared video of the store being built, showing construction crews working alongside a robotic arm as it pours on layers of concrete to build the structure, similar to the way a printer displays ink.
While the walls are noticeably different, the outside of the structure, which includes the trademark Starbucks logo, looks like your typical location for the popular coffee giant.
“Coming soon to brownsville, texas: our first 3d printed store in the u.s.,” the caption of the IG post reads.
“Will it melt in the summer?” one person asked in the comments.
“As an architect, I approve this,” a second person said.
“Can’t wait to see this,” a third person added.
“How fast did you get it up and going? That’s cool!” a fourth person wrote.
“Why are we 3D printing buildings?” another wondered.

In an interview with TODAY, Adeola Olubamiji, Ph.D., the CEO of Pathfinder Consulting and an expert in printing technologies, provided a quick breakdown of the science behind the structure.
“You’re building from scratch, from nothing, layer by layer,” Olubamiji said. “You feed a material in, like powder, and then it makes it into a semi-solid.”
“This technology combines the semi-solid with a polymer, so that each layer adheres to the next layer due to the polymer that connects them together, much like an adhesive,” she added.
Olubamiji also feels that 3D-printing could become more prominent based off Starbucks’ willingness to incorporate it into their building.
Starbucks’ first-ever 3D-printed store will open at 2491 Boca Chica Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas this Friday, May 2.
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Author: Andrew Holleran

