3D-printed reef (Blue Lagoon, Summer Island)

Installed in August 2018, this was the first 3D-printed reef in the Maldives: it is made of 220 modules of ceramic molds printed in Melbourne, filled with concrete and fitted together on the sandy bottom of the Blue Lagoon. The modules were designed by computer to imitate Maldivian coral reefs, and ceramic was chosen because it is inert and similar to the calcium carbonate of corals. Coral fragments from the resort's nursery were transplanted onto the structure to colonize it. During the installation, triggerfish circled the structure and its niches attracted fish within minutes. The structure was recognized as the largest 3D-printed reef in the world.