Tor Alva - Construction and Assembly
Completed in May 2025, the White Tower now stands as the tallest 3D-printed structure in the world—a milestone in both engineering and architectural innovation. Its creation demanded a construction process as distinctive as its design, combining advanced prefabrication, novel material applications, and logistical precision to bring a complex structure to life in the challenging environment of the Swiss Alps.
Prefabrication at ETH Zurich
All mid-segments of Tor Alva's columns were 3D-printed at ETH's Robotic Fabrication laboratory at the Institute of Technology in Architecture over a period of three months. The separate capital and base of each column were fabricated using an innovative approach of combining traditional casting of concrete with 3D-printed plastic formwork developed at ETH Zurich. This strategy ensures precise interfaces and efficient production, and permits an efficient production of those repetitive parts. All column segments were transported to Savognin, 10 kilometers from Mulegns, where they were joined together into full columns. From there, the completed columns were delivered to the final destination, where they were assembled level by level and bolted together. Each level of Tor Alva was assembled within a single day.
Maximizing prefabrication for a building in the Alps is ideal due to the region's harsh weather, remote locations, and short construction windows, which complicate on-site work. By manufacturing components in controlled factory settings, prefabrication ensures quality, reduces environmental impact, and simplifies logistics, while minimizing labor needs and costs in rugged terrain. This approach enables faster assembly, enhances sustainability, and ensures structural reliability against snow loads and seismic activity, all within budget constraints.
Designed for Reuse
As Tor Alva was designed with dry connections, disassembly will be as straightforward as assembly, without the risk or need to destroy the elements. Using mechanical fasteners like bolts instead of permanent adhesives or wet concrete, these connections allow building components to be dismantled, relocated, and reused elsewhere. This significantly reduces waste and resource consumption, and aligns with the project’s environmental principles.
