Reuters reports that construction of the world's largest 3D-printed neighborhood is nearly complete—and of course, it's in Texas. Wolf Ranch is located about 30 miles from Austin and consists of 100 homes, all built by a giant, 45-foot-wide 3D printer using a mix of concrete powder, water, sand, and other additives.
Construction on the community began in November 2022, with each single-story, three- or four-bedroom house taking about three weeks to print before the finishing touches are added by standard construction methods. Prices range from $450,000 to $600,000; about one-quarter of the neighbor's homes have been sold so far. Not exactly cheap, but hey, as long as we're adding more housing in general, I broadly support it.
ICON began printing the walls of what it says is the world's largest 3D-printed community in November 2022. Compared to traditional construction, the company says that 3D printing homes is faster, less expensive, requires fewer workers, and minimizes construction material waste.
"It brings a lot of efficiency to the trade market," said ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins. "So, where there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot."
After concrete powder, water, sand and other additives are mixed together and pumped into the printer, a nozzle squeezes out the concrete mixture like toothpaste onto a brush, building up layer by layer along a pre-programmed path that creates corduroy-effect walls.
Jenkins said the concrete walls are designed to be resistant to water, mold, termites and extreme weather.
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Lawrence Nourzad, a 32-year-old business development director, and his girlfriend Angela Hontas, a 29-year-old creative strategist, purchased a Wolf Ranch home earlier this summer.
"It feels like a fortress," Nourzad said, adding that he was confident it would be resilient to most tornados.
World's largest 3D-printed neighborhood nears completion in Texas [Evan Garcia / Reuters]
Previously:
• Profile of math-inspired 3D printing sculptor Bathsheba Grossman
• I finally 3D printed something useful
• 3D Printed Robot head
• 3D printed zoetrope
