Back in ’22, the first-ever 3D-printed home in Texas was printed in Austin, TX. It only took a couple of years after that for another giant leap forward for humankind. Today, 3D printing is everywhere, from prosthetics to organs, guns to new homes, and now entire neighborhoods .
Today’s 3D printed homes, at least in this neighborhood, couldn’t be considered “inexpensive housing.” These homes range in price from $450K to $600K. However, this is a massive step forward in what could be the future of inexpensive, mass-built homes.
The World’s Largest Robot-Built Neighborhood
Georgetown, Texas, is the site of Wolf Ranch, a neighborhood of around 100 homes that has been “being printed” since November ’22.
Here’s how the process works, according to developers: “the single-story 3D-printed homes take about three weeks to finish printing. Only the walls are printed – the foundation and metal roof are installed traditionally.”
- The ICON Vulcan printers measure 45 feet wide and weigh 4.75 tonnes.
- Concrete powder, water, sand, and other additives are mixed and pumped into the printer.
- A nozzle then lays the concrete mixture layer by layer along a pre-programmed path.
You have to see the video below; these homes are beautifully made of a concrete-like material that looks like it’s being poured from a delicious robotic Dairy Queen soft-serve machine…