College students create 3D printed home that only costs $250,00
Topics: News, US News, Los Angeles, Education, Technology
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: KABC
Topics: News, US News, Los Angeles, Education, Technology
A group of college students have done what dozens have people in the building industry have been trying to do for years - create affordable housing.
Not only is the home affordable, but it's also trendy and environmentally friendly as the Woodbury University architecture students used sustainable materials and it's powered by renewable energy.
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The students built the property - dubbed the Solar Futures Home - on the university's Burbank campus.
Away from campus, the average home in Burbank can set you back - on average - an eye-watering $1.2 million.
But this home cost just $250,000 to build; less than a quarter of the price.
It's not just the price and sustainability of the house that's got people talking, it's also about how the house as been made - using 3D printing.
The home marks the first 3D printed structure to be permitted and built in the city of Los Angeles, and took 15 months to build.
The 425-square-foot, open plan property was built as part of a national collegiate competition from the US Department of Energy.
In total, around 24 students worked on the project, including recent graduate Jade Royer.
She said of the property: "I think it looks really nice. I'm glad that we kept it raw concrete... we didn't add any paints or anything like this on top of it so we can see all of the different layers and the actual material."
Fellow graduate Jessica Gomez further told ABC7: "I also enjoy the kitchen because it uses a lot of sustainable materials as well.
"The dining chairs and the table are made from recyclable paper, so we try to think sustainably from the building but also with how we wanted to furnish it."
In light of their undeniably innovative build, Dr. Barry Ryan, the president of Woodbury University, believes it could be the future of home building.
"It's a proof of concept that this really can be done and then can be repeated and scaled in a way that has a huge effect on our community but on the world at large even," he said.
Elsewhere, Heather Flood, the dean of Woodbury's School of Architecture, noted that the house price is 'incredibly affordable for housing in Los Angeles'.
As it stands, it's unclear how the campus property will be used - but the university has some ideas.
According to The Los Angeles Times, uni administrators are considering using it as a guest house for visiting speakers or a residence for a housing-insecure student.