The factory of Shapeways in the Netherlands has been located in the center of Eindhoven at the canal for over a decade. It is where we scaled up our global SLS, MJF, and MJP production capabilities, certified it, and introduced first article inspection and value added services like spray painting and heat inserts to better serve our customers.
The centric location in Eindhoven is a fantastic location and dear to our hearts with many great memories and learnings. However, with the current growth rate of the company and the planned expansion of our value added services, the location will soon become too small to serve our global industrial and medical clientele.
Therefore in late 2026 we will relocate to a new site at Strijp T, a former Philips Electronics building that is in the midst of being renovated. There is some beauty to Shapeways returning to its Philips roots. We started our company within the Philips Lifestyle Incubator all those years ago and now we will be moving to a historic Philips industrial building that will be revitalized for the current era. Renovation will encompass saving as many of the architectural elements of the building while providing a fully modernized workplace with all comfort and sustainability amenities one can expect from a new building.
Our new home will have the space and power we need to grow and provide the capacity to operate our machinery and expand the number of technologies and additional services. It will allow us to take and implement the operational learnings from our current Factory into improved set-up and lay-out, increasing the efficiency of our processes. On top of that, the roof or our factory will be flooded by natural daylight from the north-facing panes of the sawtooth roof. Not only will this be a major quality of life improvement for our team members, but it will also allow plenty of light without increasing the cooling requirements in summer. Moreover, the south side of the roof had solar panels installed, ensuring we can power our customer’s orders with sustainable energy and reduce the amount of grid energy we need.
Over the next 18 months we will continue to re-shape and develop this new space. The main construction is in place, and we are in the process of refining the layouts and investments we need to bring our vision to life. We are eager to see how it will all come to fruition, but for now, we find joy in preparing this next step in the journey of Shapeways and look forward to sharing updates with all of you through the blog.
