3D print the Union Buildings
A free, printable model of the Union Buildings, two long wings joined by a curved colonnade, with the gardens, roads and hillside around them, generated from real map data in your browser.
Free, in your browser. Exports a slicer-ready 3MF.
About the Union Buildings
The Union Buildings stand on Meintjeskop in Pretoria, South Africa, at the northern end of the suburb of Arcadia. They occupy the highest point of the city, even though they are not in its center. The South African Government has its official seat here, the President of South Africa has offices in the complex, and presidential inaugurations are held on the site. It is a national heritage site, and it is also described as an emblem of democracy.
Sir Herbert Baker designed the buildings in the English monumental style, using light sandstone, and they are 285 m long. Two identical wings are joined by a semicircular colonnade that forms the backdrop of an amphitheatre, and a tower ends the colonnade on each side. Atlas statues by Abraham Broadbent top the domed towers. The windows grow shorter toward the top floor to give an illusion of height, and the clock chimes match those of Big Ben in London.
Baker was commissioned in 1909 to design a government building for the Union of South Africa, and its cornerstone went in during November 1910. About 1,265 workers built it, and it was finished in 1913. The building cost £1,310,640 and the site another £350,000. It stands on a disused quarry, whose excavations were reused to form the amphitheatre. When finished, it was the largest building in the country.
How it prints
Make this print opens the generator on a 650 m square around the landmark. Buildings print at close to true scale, so the landmark grows with the print size.
| Print size | Landmark height | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 160 mm default | 18 mm | 1:4,063 |
| 200 mm | 22 mm | 1:3,250 |
| 256 mm | 29 mm | 1:2,539 |
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North
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East
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South
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West
- Domed towers at the ends
- Small domed towers stand at each end of the curved colonnade. Print friendly adapts small tops like these to the print scale, while Full detail keeps them for a larger print or a fine nozzle.
- Slender columns on the curve
- The curved colonnade is lined with thin columns. A larger print size keeps them sturdier, and layers of 0.12–0.16 mm keep their edges crisp.
- One piece with the ground
- The Union Buildings is joined to the ground in the exported file, and the four-side check found no floating parts, so nothing needs gluing.
- Pick the detail for your nozzle
- In the Buildings settings, set Landmark detail to Print friendly to adapt thin parts and small details to the print scale. Full detail keeps every modeled feature, for larger prints or a finer nozzle.
- Colors
- Buildings, roads, water and ground arrive as separate filament slots in the 3MF. The Union Buildings takes the building color.
- File format
- You get a 3MF for Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer or PrusaSlicer. Any of them can save it as STL if you need one.
About this model
The Union Buildings is one of more than 2,300 landmark models in Mini Skyline. They are made with AI, and each one is checked from four sides in its real surroundings before release. Everything around it is built from OpenStreetMap and Overture map data. If you would rather print the shape from map data, turn off Landmark models in the Buildings settings.
Common questions
Is there a Union Buildings STL I can download?
Mini Skyline builds the file for you in your browser and exports 3MF, which every major slicer opens. If you need an STL, open the 3MF in your slicer and export it from there.
How big can I print it?
Any print size from 40 mm across. The Union Buildings grows with the print: about 18 mm tall on the default 160 mm print. For a model larger than your printer bed, Project Mode splits the area into tiles.
Is it free?
Yes. Generation runs in your browser, with no account and nothing behind a paywall.
