It has been a busy month for Austin-based 3D printing construction firm ICON. Not only did it raise $207 million in Series B funding and unveil a 3,800-square-foot training barracks for the Texas Military Department, it has now brought four 3D printed homes to market in Austin, Texas, in collaboration with Kansas City developer 3Strands. Two of the four 3D printed homes have already been sold, while the remaining two are hitting the market today, August 31, 2021.
The 3D printed homes were designed by Austin-based Logan Architecture and feature a 3D printed ground floor. This segment of each home was constructed using ICON’s Vulcan construction 3D printer and its advanced 3D printing materials. The 3D printed buildings were also designed with the environment in mind: not only are they energy efficient, but they are designed to withstand natural disasters such as fire, flooding and wind better than traditional homes.
The modern interiors and fixtures of the homes were designed by Claire Zinnecker, a local Austin-based designer. As those with a keen eye for interior design may be able to discern, she was inspired by traditional West Texas design with a contemporary twist, integrating natural colors and wooden accents, with metal fixtures and earth-toned tiles.
Manufacturing on Demand
As ICON says: “This is the first of its kind multi-home mainstream housing development which leverages ICON’s proprietary 3D printing technology to construct safer, more resilient homes to meet the current demand in the hottest real estate market in the U.S.” These four homes are found in East Austin, just three miles from downtown, and range in size from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet (two to four bedrooms). ICON and 3Strands also emphasize that each home also includes a yard, covered parking and high performance HVAC system.
As we mentioned, two of the four 3D printed homes in Austin have already been sold. The other two abodes are entering the hot Texas housing market today. They are being sold by 3Strands in partnership with local company Den Property Group.
“We want to change the way we build, own and how we live in community together,” said Gary O’Dell, Co-founder and CEO of ICON, when the project was first announced in March 2021. “This project represents a big step forward, pushing the boundaries of new technologies, such as 3D printed homes.”
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Swissloop tunnel vision: boring while 3D printing a hyperloop tunnel: On Sunday, September 12th teams N. America and Europe will test the limits of innovation and engineering in the Not-a-Boring Competition’s final day. The competition challenges teams to bore a 30-meter tunnel in the Nevada desert just outside of Las Vegas. Swissloop Tunneling a student-initiated team consisting of more than 40 students, most from ETH Zurich – the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland – is a strong prize contender in the final round of the competition with their boring machine called, Groundhog Alpha.
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Author: Tess Boissonneault
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