World's largest 3D-printed neighborhood is almost finished in Texas but everybody has the same concern
The world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood is almost finished in Texas but everybody is noticing the same issue.
The homes in a neighborhood in Georgetown, Texas, are being built using robotic printers which are pumped with concrete powder, water, sand and other additives.
Their nozzles lay the concrete mixture down layer by layer, following a path that has been pre-programmed for them.
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The ICON Vulcan printers are huge, measuring at 45 feet wide and weighing 4.75 tonnes, and it takes around three weeks for them to finish printing a single-story house.
The 100 homes are nearly complete, making up the new neighborhood of Wolf Ranch, after work first began in November 2022.
According to the company behind the robots, 3D printing is a way to make homes faster and cheaper, and it also minimizes the waste from construction materials.
The last few homes are being printed this summer and new residents of the area have already started moving in.
There’s eight different models to choose from, with the cheapest costing $430,000 for a three bedroom, two bathroom home.
The larger houses cost around $600,000.
The 3D printed walls are designed to be resistant to water, mold, termites and extreme weather but it seems that not everyone is impressed by the innovation.
Taking to social media, people have been sharing their reactions with a lot of the same concerns.
One user wrote: “Imagine how awkward it would be to clean your wall when your wall texture is literally dozens of protruding layers.”
Another said: “Imagine trying to do repairs or remodeling a concrete house, absolute nightmare.”
A third person agreed, posting: “Not one straight smooth wall in the entire place.... no way to change the layout because it's built as one piece.”
And a fourth added: “Those ridges are gonna need some serious dusting.”
Still, the co-founder and CEO of ICON, Jason Ballard, is adamant that this is the future.
He said: “For the first time in the history of the world, what we’re witnessing here is a fleet of robots building an entire community of homes. And not just any homes, homes that are better in every way… better design, higher strength, higher energy performance and comfort, and increased resiliency.
“In the future, I believe robots and drones will build entire neighborhoods, towns, and cities, and we’ll look back at Lennar’s Wolf Ranch community as the place where robotic construction at scale began. We still have a long way to go, but I believe this marks a very exciting and hopeful turn in the way we address housing issues in the world.”