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Company presents 3D-printed “living” seawalls to Fort Myers advisory board
Summary
Kind Designs told the Fort Myers Environmental Advisory Board that its 3D-printed seawall panels and tiles are structurally equivalent to traditional seawalls while adding habitat, reducing carbon footprint and dissipating wave energy—presenter cited early site recruitment within 90 days and a 50% wave-dissipation claim.
Charlotte Hoffman, product-development lead at Kind Designs, presented the company's 3D-printed “living” seawalls to the City of Fort Myers Environmental Advisory Board on Dec. 3, describing the product as a structurally equivalent alternative to traditional concrete seawalls that also provides marine habitat.
Hoffman said the 3D-printed exterior uses a 5,000-psi mortar and that installers place rebar and fill the interior with a standard 6,000-psi ready-mix to meet usual structural requirements. “We print the exterior of the seawall... it has a 30% lower carbon footprint than traditional mortar and concrete, and it's also pH neutral,” Hoffman said. She described a biomimicry design that mimics mangrove roots, creates rugosity for filter-feeders and provides small caves where crabs and reef organisms can shelter.
Board members asked technical and implementation questions about overtopping, lifespan and permitting. Hoffman said the company’s design “dissipates 50% more wave energy than a traditional flat seawall panel,” and described a Key Largo installation where visible biological recruitment—oysters and other filter feeders—was observed within roughly 90 days. She added that the product’s exterior can be produced as tiles to retrofit existing seawalls when full replacement is not necessary.
The presentation included examples of local permitting outcomes Hoffman said the company has obtained — Broward County allowed a riprap reduction in some cases and Miami-Dade has offered up to a 50% riprap reduction for living-shoreline approaches — and the presenter offered to share permits and FIU-led ecological monitoring planned for recent Miami Beach installations.
Board members requested follow-up materials (peer literature reviews, permitting examples and end-user references) and agreed staff would collect additional site references for board review before making formal recommendations to City Council. The board did not take a formal vote on policy or procurement.
