Summary: Icon is nearing completion on a master-planned community of 100 3D printed homes in Georgetown, Texas. The unconventional construction company will break ground on the project in the Wolf Ranch community in late 2022 and expects to complete work by the end of the summer.
Icon uses a massive 3D printer that’s more than 45 feet wide and weighs 4.75 tons to build the walls, layer by layer, by squeezing a mixture of concrete powder, sand, water and other additives like toothpaste from a tube. The resulting walls look like textured corduroy.
The single-story home took just a few weeks to print and has a traditional foundation and metal roof. The thick concrete walls are said to be water, termite, mold and harsh weather resistant, keeping the home cool even in hot Texas summers.
Connor Jenkins, senior project manager at Icon, told Reuters the process is faster and cheaper than traditional homebuilding, requires fewer labour and minimises material waste.
One potential drawback is the fact that 3D printed walls are very effective at blocking wireless signals, which has led some early adopters to opt for mesh Wi-Fi systems for whole-home connectivity.
Prices start at just under $470,000 for a 1,574-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home and rise to nearly $600,000 for a home with nearly 2,000 square feet. The developer told Reuters that about a quarter of the 100 units have already been sold.
The progress and improvement continues for Icon: Later in 2022, NASA awarded the Austin-based company a $57.2 million contract to develop construction technologies to help build buildings, roads, landing pads and other infrastructure on the moon’s surface.
ICON also built the 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed Mars Dune Alpha, where volunteers recently lived for a year to simulate life on the Red Planet. The first group of participants emerged from the habitat in July, spending 378 days in near-isolation in a simulated environment to help prepare for NASA’s future Mars missions.
