Walk past a construction site anywhere in Argentina and you know the rhythm: months of scaffolding, dust, and noise before anything resembling a home takes shape. Mateo Salvatto wants to compress that timeline to a weekend.
Salvatto is co-founder of Grondplek, an Argentine startup that uses a large-format 3D concrete printer to build the full structural shell of a house, including walls, staircases, and countertops, in as little as 48 hours. He made the claim in a recent podcast interview, adding that the method can cut construction costs by roughly 30 percent compared to conventional building. The source does not provide independent verification of either figure.
The machine behind that claim is built by Danish manufacturer COBOD, for which Grondplek holds the exclusive distribution rights across Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
Layer by Layer, No Formwork Required
The printer measures approximately 11 by 11 meters and stands 7 meters tall. A compact mixing plant feeds standard cement, combined with roughly 2 percent additives, through a pump and hose into a moving print head. The head traces the wall design automatically, depositing concrete in passes and pausing between layers to let each course set before the next is added.
“It’s concrete, nothing very mystical,” Salvatto said of the materials, noting that the plasticizers and accelerants used are available locally in Argentina.
The result, he said, is a structure with double walls and an internal air gap for thermal insulation, which he described as earthquake-resistant and more energy-efficient than conventionally built homes. Curved wall geometries are also possible, something difficult and costly with traditional formwork. The source does not include third-party structural testing results or seismic certification documentation.
One important boundary: the printer only builds what the industry calls the obra gris, the structural shell. Electrical wiring, plumbing, and interior finishes still require human workers. Salvatto said the technology is not designed to eliminate labor but to redirect it, moving workers away from heavy manual tasks and toward machine supervision and finishing work.
How an Argentine Startup Ended Up With a Danish Printer
Grondplek grew out of a simple moment: a friend showed Salvatto and his partners a video of 3D construction printing in action. They decided to build a business around it and traveled through Europe researching manufacturers before settling on COBOD in Copenhagen.
According to COBOD’s website, Grondplek is now the only team in Latin America certified at Level 3 for printer operation, the company’s highest qualification tier.
Their first commercial client in Argentina was no small test case. Techint Engineering and Construction, one of Latin America’s largest industrial construction firms, announced in June 2025 that it had incorporated the technology into its operations, describing it as the first 3D concrete printer acquired by a construction company in Argentina. Initial tests were carried out at Techint’s TEPAM logistics center in General Pacheco, Buenos Aires.
The specific model in use, the BOD2, covers a working area of 12 by 12 meters and reaches a printing height of up to 6 meters. Techint’s Innovation Senior Manager Alejandro Aguirre said the printer allows the company to manufacture structural components “in a controlled and safe environment” before shipping them to project sites. Project Field Engineer Rocío Gentico added that the main advantages are “speed of execution, reduction of waste, and elimination of traditional formwork.”
Faster Builds, Less Waste, Lower Carbon Footprint
Grondplek is not the only company reporting sharp time reductions with this technology. In a detailed residential housing case study, COBOD reports that a Portuguese homebuilder completed an 80-square-meter house in two months, eight times faster than local conventional methods, with the walls printed in just 18 hours.
A Saudi Arabian developer used the same technology to print a three-story, 345-square-meter villa in 26 days, with material costs for the printed structure reported at under 10,000 euros. COBOD did not provide independent audits of those figures in the materials reviewed.
Techint specifically cited the reduction of construction waste, the elimination of wood formwork, and lower reinforcing steel use as environmental advantages of the method. The company described the technology as combining three priorities from its innovation agenda: prefabrication, automation, and reduction of carbon footprint.
The current printer model used by Grondplek is limited to buildings of up to three stories. Salvatto noted that newer machines with horizontal rail systems are beginning to appear on the market, capable of printing several adjacent structures in sequence without repositioning.
Where Things Stand Now
According to Grondplek’s website, the company has printed more than 500 square meters of concrete to date, produced over 1,400 structural pieces, and reported a 35 percent reduction in structural shell construction time across its completed projects.
Techint said its next step is to send the BOD2 to locations with sustained demand for standardized parts, once its engineering team finishes building a catalog of adaptable printed designs for use across future industrial projects.
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