A Texas startup is planning to build a community of a hundred 3d printed homes, making it the biggest such community in the US. The company named Icon builds 3D prints buildings, has collaborated with Florida-based construction company Lennar Corp to print the houses near Austin next year, reports The Wall Street Journal.
“Skilled tradesmen are a dying breed,” Eric Feder, president of Lennar’s innovation and the venture-capital investing unit, told the WSJ. “So there have to be alternative building solutions to help with this labor deficit.”
The startup has already built 10 3D-printed two-bedroom homes in Mexico, alongside 7 one-bedroom homes in Austin. With the new partnership, the startup hopes to scale its operations up to another level.
Building better homes in same time
While most traditionally constructed homes use wooden frames, Icon uses concrete. Its 15.5-foot-tall 3D printers make layers of concrete to make exterior and interior wall systems. Once done, Lennar will finish the interior and exterior work with the help of traditional construction methods.
The 3D printing process takes around a week, which is about the same amount of time taken to frame and drywall a home using traditional techniques, reports the WSJ. However, the partners believe that they can speed up the process in the coming years.
“Construction-scale 3D printing not only delivers higher-quality homes faster and more affordably, but fleets of printers can change the way that entire communities are built for the better,” said Jason Ballard, co-founder, and CEO of Icon. “We believe this will be a watershed moment in the history of community-scale development and the future breaking into the present.”
Is this the future of housing?
It remains to be seen whether 3D printed homes and the planned community will actually take off in the future or not. If it works, it could make for a blueprint for a way of completely rethinking the future of construction.
Previously, Amsterdam saw the installation of the world’s first 3D-printed steel bridge, over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. The bridge is now functional and open to pedestrians and cyclists. It was built with the help of four robots in six months time.
