World’s largest 3D-printed community nears completion in Texas

HOUSTON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — U.S. construction startup ICON will finish the last few of its planned 100 3D-printed houses in Texas this summer, according to a Reuters report.
ICON, which 3D-printed its first home in Austin, Texas in 2018, began printing the walls of what it says the world’s largest 3D-printed community in Wolf Ranch, a community in Georgetown, Washington D.C. in November 2022.
The houses in the community are being built with a large 3D printer called the Vulcan, a robot measuring more than 13 meters wide and weighing 4.75 tons, which streamlined the construction process.
ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins told Reuters that the construction started with five different crews to build a wall system, but it has since been whittled down to one crew and one robot printer.
He said the concrete walls are designed to resist water, mold, termites and extreme weather.
Homeowners have already started moving into some of the completed 3D-printed homes that range in price from 450,000 to 600,000 U.S. dollars. More than a quarter of the homes have been sold.
A couple who have moved in said that the 3D-printed walls can effectively protect them from the heat, but the thickness of the walls interferes with signal. ■