The world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood could change the entire property landscape but if you were expecting dirt-cheap costs, you are sadly mistaken.
Despite many countries around the world dealing with a housing crisis, you would think - with such technological advancements - why can't we just print more? Except, now we actually sort of can.
The construction of 100 3D-printed homes alongside the San Gabriel River in the hills of Georgetown, Texas, is almost completed.
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Yep, the future well and truly is here.
The project was started back in 2022 and the Wolf Ranch community is almost done with the last few homes being printed this summer, according to recent reports.
The town came to fruition through a collaboration between ICON, a Texas-based start-up specializing in large-scale 3D printing and Lennar, one of the US’s biggest homebuilders.
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So, if we can pretty much print homes you would think these properties would be relatively inexpensive, right? Well, not exactly.
There are eight different models of home available and, as August 2024, the cheapest starts at around $430,000, offering 146 square meters (1,574 square feet) of space with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
There are larger homes available but with this extra space comes a more expensive price, go figure.
Co-founder and CEO of ICON, Jason Ballard, appears to be pretty confident in the project and it sounds like this could just be the beginning.
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When the project began in 2022, he said in a statement: “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.
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“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.”
Amazingly, the ICON company isn’t going to stop at building 3D-homes on planet Earth...
Back in 2022, the company received $57 million contract from NASA to develop construction technologies that could help build 3D-printed infrastructure on the Moon and Mars.
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So, I guess the future is 3D... well more 3D? You know what I mean!
Gerrard Kaonga