Icon's first 3D printed US home in Austin. Courtesy ICON
A property developer in Austin plans to 3D print houses using a new printer that takes only days to complete a home.
The Vulcan II printer puts down layers of concrete that gradually build up the walls of the home, needing only a small team of people to remotely operate the machine via tablet.
According to its creator, tech startup Icon, it can produce a 2,000 sq ft home in less than a week – although any non-concrete parts of the house will still need to be added manually – reducing both cost and waste.
In 2018, Icon was the first company in the US to secure a building permit for a 3D printed home and its permanent Austin prototype cost just $10,000 to print. It’s now passing its technology onto property developers. The Austin-based Cielo Property Group will use the Vulcan II printers to create affordable housing, and non-profit New Story also reportedly plans to use them to print homes in Latin America.
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