Anantara Dhigu and rrreefs Install 3D Printed Reef Structures in the Maldives

• Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort, nestled in South Malé Atoll, has installed 13 flower-shaped reef structures on its lagoon floor in partnership with Swiss reef restoration company rrreefs,  an effort to counter coral decline in one of the world’s most ecologically fragile marine zones.  The Theyra Maa installation, built from 3D printed fired terracotta clay and…

Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort, nestled in South Malé Atoll, has installed 13 flower-shaped reef structures on its lagoon floor in partnership with Swiss reef restoration company rrreefs, an effort to counter coral decline in one of the world’s most ecologically fragile marine zones. The Theyra Maa installation, built from 3D printed fired terracotta clay and engineered at a microscopic level to encourage coral larval settlement, biodiversity recovery, and the formation of beneficial biofilms, offers a potential blueprint for how the tourism sector could fund and scale marine conservation infrastructure. The structures combine steel reinforcement and a minimal concrete component for structural integrity, but it is the clay’s geometry and porosity that do the biological work. “Every elem