Archinect - News

Nidus3D completes North America's first 3D printed three-story building

2024-03-13T18:19:00-04:00

A new home design that stands as North America’s first three-story 3D printed structure has been completed in Canada using a special printer from the Danish construction technology firm COBOD.

The Toronto area proof-of-concept project from Nidus3D delivered what is reported as one of Canada’s first residentially permitted 3D printed structures. The 4,500-square-foot townhouse also includes the world's first 3D printed basement. It has a total of four residential units forming semi-attached homes made from locally sourced concrete and finished by a steel-frame roof and brick facade to match the local vernacular.

"Completing the world’s first 3D printed basement is another impressive achievement that only amplifies the technology’s potential to transform construction, and we notice with pride that multiple of our customers are pioneering what can be achieved with the 3D printing technology," COBOD's co-founder, Philip Lund-Nielsen, said in a news announcement.

Aerial view of the compl...

AI designer and multi-story 3D printer among ICON technologies unveiled at SXSW

2024-03-12T16:00:00-04:00

Construction technologies company ICON has unveiled a suite of new technologies at SXSW, including a multi-story robotic construction system and an AI-powered design system.

At a SXSW event dubbed ‘Domus Ex Machina,’ the company also presented a new low-carbon building material for 3D printing alongside a digital catalog for residential 3D printed architecture containing more than 60 designs.

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

“In the future, I believe nearly all construction will be done by robots, and nearly all construction-related information will be processed and managed by AI systems,” said Jason Ballard, ICON Co-Founder and CEO, announcing the new systems. “It is clear to me that this is the way to cut the cost and time of construction in half while making homes that are twice as good and more faithfully express the values and hopes of the people who live in them.”

Phoenix multi-story printer. Image credit: ICON

Among the new technologies unveiled is Phoenix, ICON...

America's first 3D printed fire-resistant ADU concept is under construction in Southern California

2024-02-29T11:57:00-05:00

A new 3D printed ADU prototype made of concrete and other fire-resistant materials is under construction as part of a demonstration taking place this month in Walnut, California.

The first-of-its-kind project was born of a collaboration between the fire departments of both Walnut and Los Angeles. A local couple volunteered to give the host the design for general contractor Builtech Construction Group in the interests of applying lessons valuable for disaster prevention at a time when an influx of peri-urbanization has left the state more susceptible to fire-damaged structures than ever before.

Image courtesy RIC Technology

The unit is both non-combustible and fire-resistant and is being constructed using contractor RIC Technology’s robotic 3D printer.

Construction takes only 20 days from the start of the printing process to finish after the foundation has been laid. It yields a total of 1,200 square feet of space with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The design works by eliminating any...

Researchers use cellulose and algae to create 3D printed architectural material

2024-02-09T13:46:00-05:00

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have published their study into how materials made from nanocellulose and algae can be used as sustainable architectural materials. The research, conducted in collaboration with the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, “shows how the abundant sustainable material can be 3D printed into a wide array of architectural components, using much less energy than conventional construction methods,” according to the team.

Nanocellulose, molecules consisting of hundreds or thousands of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, are already used in biomedicine to 3D print scaffolds for tissue and cell growth but have never been used in an architectural material. The researchers, therefore, mixed nanocellulose fibers and water with an algae-based material called alginate to produce a 3D printable material with architectural uses in mind.

“For the first time...

Louisiana State and NASA to develop waterless concrete for 3D printing on the Moon

2023-12-14T12:06:00-05:00

Louisiana State University is collaborating with NASA on a project investigating the potential for natural materials on the Moon to be used as 3D printed waterless concrete. The research is part of a wider mission to develop feasible robotic construction technologies that can support the building of long-term settlements on the Lunar surface, including habitats, landing pads, and radiation shields.

The research is a partnership between LSU Construction Management Assistant Professor Ali Kazemian alongside scientists Michael Fiske and Jennifer Edmunson from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Together, the team will investigate how raw materials already available on the Moon and Mars, namely sulfur and regolith, can be used to develop 3D printed waterless concrete.

Related on Archinect: ICON to work with DARPA on a framework for Lunar architecture. Image credit: BIG

Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the team will study the performance and limits ...

ICON to work with DARPA on a framework for lunar architecture

2023-12-11T12:12:00-05:00

The construction technology company ICON has been chosen by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) among 14 partners to build a framework for lunar architecture. The LunA-10 Lunar Architecture Study will run for seven months with the aim to “create a framework for interoperable commercial lunar architecture that will help to guide lunar research and investment over the next ten years.”

The 14 companies have been chosen for their prior engagement with the space industry, whose products and services may form the foundational elements for a future lunar economy. Aside from ICON’s focus on construction, the group also contains specialists across power, communications, and mobility.

“By participating in LunA-10, we can understand what inputs are going to be available, when, at what cost, and in what quantities,” said Evan Jensen, ICON’s Vice President o...

A 3D printed ceramic facade by Studio RAP in Amsterdam is inspired by weaving textiles

2023-12-04T11:54:00-05:00

Rotterdam-based Studio RAP has transformed a boutique facade in Amsterdam with 3D printed ceramic tiles. The Ceramic House sits along the city’s famous P.C. Hooftstraat shopping street, and according to the firm, “reshapes architectural expression by seamlessly blending tradition and innovation, reintroducing bespoke details to the realm of architecture.”

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

For the project’s design, the firm developed in-house algorithms to reinterpret the existing qualities and language of glazed ceramics in Amsterdam. The resulting facade features intricate layers inspired by textiles, including creases, interloping yarns, and stitch patterns.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

“Its organic, wave-like quality changes as viewers approach the design from different angles,” the team explains. “Gradually, as the line of vision moves, new elements within the custom ceramic tiles are unveiled, resulting in a luxur...

This 3D printed social housing apartment building aims to become Europe's first of its kind

2023-11-21T12:01:00-05:00

German company PERI 3D Construction is collaborating with construction printer manufacturer COBOD on what the team describes as the “first 3D printed social housing apartment building in Germany and Europe.” The three-floor building will contain six apartment units ranging from 670 to 890 square feet.

Image credit: COBOD / PERI 3D

Located in the Ruhr city of Lünen, the project will see the first two floors of the apartment building 3D printed using concrete, while the top floor will be built using a timber hybrid construction method. The foundation, base, and horizontal slabs will be built from conventional methods, while the facade finish will comprise the 3D printed surface on the bottom two floors and facade panels to the top floor.

“We are pleased to be able to demonstrate once again how quickly, efficiently, and in a resource-saving manner the 3D printer can create living space and what potential is also opening up in the multi-family house segment,” PERI’s managing director Fab...

Japanese company delivers 3D printed home ‘bought for the price of a car’

2023-08-17T11:42:00-04:00

Japan-based housing company Serendix has announced the completion of 'serendix50', a 3D printed house that forms part of the company’s mission of building homes that can be bought for the price of a car.

Image credit: Serendix

Serendix first made headlines in March 2022 with the creation of serendix10, a 3D printed home that was printed in under 24 hours. Having sold out the six editions of the home by October, the company undertook the design and construction of serendix50, otherwise known as the ‘barnacle model.’

Image credit: Serendix

The design of Serendix50 was primarily influenced by demand from older married couples seeking a home for their retirement years. The resulting 538-square-foot scheme, developed by a team including the Digital Manufacturing Creation Center, KAP, Tateo Densetsu, Hyakunen Jutaku, and Nabeju, was constructed in 44 hours and 30 minutes.

Image credit: Serendix

Serendix50 merges two digital fabrication techniques: 3D printing for the framework and CNC cuttin...

Architects and builders detail Europe's first 3D printed school in Lviv, Ukraine

2023-08-07T14:45:00-04:00

The enormous effort of rebuilding civilian infrastructure in war-torn Ukraine has spurred a landmark example of the design and delivery of 3D printed architecture with the completion of Danish 3DCP Group‘s new Lviv School No. 23 project in the country’s internally-deluged western stronghold.

Their humanitarian design for clients Team4UA foundation was completed earlier this spring using a COBOD BOD2 printer and is now the title holder for the world’s largest 3D printed educational structure, simultaneously helping to bolster a key area of need in a community beleaguered by over 16 months of conflict and displacement.

Ukraine as a whole has lost some 277 schools since the latest phase of the Russian military invasion began last February, according to its Ministry of Education and Science. Jean-Christophe Bonis, a French-born entrepreneur who has resided in the country since 2019, took it as his charge to redirect his business activities towards the war effort, leading to the creation...

ICON, Lennar, and BIG reveal first completed Wolf Ranch model home in Texas

2023-07-21T17:55:00-04:00

The first 3D printed model home concept Wolf Ranch development, built by Lennar and ICON and co-designed by BIG, has been completed in Georgetown, Texas.

The initial of what will eventually turn into a 100-home development outside the rapidly-expanding state capital showcases one of eight different floorplans, which range in scale from 1,574 to 2,112 square feet, offering buyers three-and four-bedroom options within an expected price range of $475,990 to $559,990.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

Striated walls made using ICON’s Vulcan 3D printing technology and patented Lavacrete material define the residence’s design, which comes complete with polished concrete floors, a rooftop photovoltaic array, and fixtures and furnishings.

Image screen capture from ICON-3D Tech Wolf Ranch Trailer.

The remainder of the development, which features a playful variety of forms derived from the 24 different elevation styles offered by the company, is nearing completion aft...

The world's largest 3D printed structure rises in Florida

2023-07-03T14:01:00-04:00

Florida-based 3D printing construction startup Printed Farms has announced the completion of a structure it claims is the world’s largest 3D printed building — a "luxury horse barn." The company is known for completing Florida’s first permitted 3D printed house in Tallahassee. It used Danish 3D printer producer COBOD’s BOD2 construction 3D printer for the undertaking.

Video courtesy COBOD on YouTube

Located in the southern Florida city of Wellington, the barn spans 10,105 square feet with a height of 13 feet. It has a total length of 155 feet and a width of 83 feet. The structure was constructed to withstand extreme local weather conditions, including hurricanes and tropical storms. Its 3D printed walls serve to create a cavity and air gap, which aims to provide natural cooling to the building. The construction process involved five moves of the printer, with the two sides completed twice and the middle section executed once.

Previously on Archinect: The world's largest 3D printe...

Termite mounds hold secrets for energy-efficient buildings, researchers find

2023-05-30T10:58:00-04:00

Researchers have uncovered a methodology for reducing energy consumption in buildings by studying the structure of termite mounds. Led by Lund University’s Dr. David Andréen and Nottingham Trent University’s Dr. Rupert Soar, the research suggests that the properties of lattice networks in termite mounds, known as an ‘egress complex,’ can be copied to optimize the interior climate of buildings.

“Here we show that the ‘egress complex’, an intricate network of interconnected tunnels found in termite mounds, can be used to promote flows of air, heat, and moisture in novel ways in human architecture,” said Andréen about the study, which was recently published in Frontiers in Materials.

Image credit: Dr. David Andréen

The team grounded their research in the egress complex of Macrotermes michaelseni termites in Namibia, which they observed appeared to promote moisture regulation and ventilation. The mounds are regarded as some of the world’s largest biological structures, capable of reachin...

With OpenAI’s new 3D model tool Shap-E, text-to-3D printing may soon be a reality

2023-05-10T12:11:00-04:00

OpenAI, the company behind AI applications such as ChatGPT and text-to-image tool DALL-E, has unveiled a new model that allows users to generate 3D objects from text or images. Named Shap-E, and available for free on GitHub, the tool generates 3D objects that can be opened in Microsoft Paint 3D and converted into STL files for use in 3D printers.

Unlike ChatGPT and DALL-E, Shap-E does not operate over an online application and is instead downloaded onto a PC for local use. The tool works in three modes: a ‘text-to-3D’ mode that uses text prompts to generate models, an ‘image-to-3D’ mode that turns a 2D image into a 3D object, and ‘encode-model’ which takes an existing 3D model and transforms it into another model.

3D objects generated from text prompts by Shap-E. Image credit: OpenAI

According to a paper by OpenAI announcing the tool, Shap-E can produce both textured meshes (3D objects formed of polygons overlayed by colored textures) and neural radiance fields (3D scenes generated b...

New 3D printing housing factory aims to cut construction time by 50 percent

2023-03-28T12:51:00-04:00

3D printing construction technology startup Mighty Buildings has offered a first look inside their new factory in Monterrey, Mexico. As part of the company’s mission to develop and construct “climate-resilient, carbon-neutral homes near points of need,” the factory is reportedly capable of producing the components for an entire home during each day of operation.

Image credit: Mighty Buildings

The factory will produce homes using a blend of material science, robotics, and automation. Components for the homes will be 3D printed using Mighty Buildings’ concrete-free composite stone material, which is 30% lighter and 15% less expensive, and five times stronger than concrete. The company also claims their homes will be climate-resilient, carbon-neutral, and resistant to severe weather conditions, including hurricanes and earthquakes.

Image credit: Mighty Buildings

The components printed in the factory will form part of the company’s existing Mighty Kit System for prefabricated housing and ...

University of Michigan researchers merge 3D printing with computational design to create ‘ultra-lightweight, waste-free concrete’

2023-03-21T11:02:00-04:00

Researchers from the University of Michigan’s Taubman College have unveiled details of their latest innovation in 3D printing, which the team claims creates “ultra-lightweight, waste-free concrete.” Led by architect Aghaei Meibodi and researchers Alireza Bayramvand and Yuxin Lin of the college's DART laboratory, the group’s ‘Shell Wall’ system also claims to be 72% lighter compared to a conventional solid concrete system of the same size.

Image credit: DART laboratory

The research team’s project is a departure from traditional 3D concrete printing, which sees a 3D printing tool head operating parallel to the ground or along a single plane. As we described in our in-depth look at the design and construction of a 3D-printed house in Arizona, the tool head follows a defined path and deposits mortar in horizontal layers, repeating the process until the resulting mold is completed to a defined height and reinforced with rebars or additional concrete.

Image credit: DART laboratory

“This lea...

IAAC/WASP team creates ‘solid and expressive’ 3D printed wall made from earth

2023-02-13T13:17:00-05:00

Barcelona’s IAAC has collaborated with Italian 3D printing company WASP on the creation of a 3D printed earthen wall. The element was printed from a mixture of clay and rice fibers, with interlocking timber beams providing support for stair and floor structures.

The 15.7-inch-thick wall was printed in 40 hours using 70 cubic feet of material. Printed in horizontal layers with voids left for the placement of cantilevering timber elements, the team describes their method as one that can “confer both solidity and aesthetic expressivity.”

The prototype was printed using WASP’s modular 3D printing system titled ‘Crane WASP.’ The machinery is composed of a main printer unit that covers an area of 538 square feet by way of a radial mechanical arm, similar to the operation of a traditional construction crane. The Crane WASP system has also been used to deliver the Mario Cucinella-designed TECLA raw earth home which we reported on in 2021.

Image credit: IAAC / WASP

“This work can be consider...

In 2022, breakthroughs in 3D printing and material science challenged how we build, and what we build with

2022-12-22T08:00:00-05:00

2022 was another productive year in laboratories across the United States and beyond, as colleges, manufacturers, and startups strove to challenge the orthodoxy of construction materials. While teams of students and researchers at institutions from Virginia Tech to ETH Zurich sought to push the boundaries of traditional materials such as timber and concrete, disruptive startups sought to broaden this palette with the introduction of everything from recycled plastic to mushrooms.

These investigations into material science were matched by equally impressive advancements in construction processes, marking 2022 as a year that asked ‘how’ we build as well as ‘what’ we build with. As with previous years, 3D printing featured heavily in 2022’s highlights of intriguing construction innovations, be it new nano-structural 3D printed systems that can sense their own movement, or a growing portfolio of real-world 3D printed homes which signal the arrival of the once-novel process as a viable ma...

ICON receives NASA funding to create 3D printing methods using materials from the Moon and Mars

2022-11-30T14:26:00-05:00

3D printing company ICON has been awarded funding by NASA to develop lunar surface construction systems. The $57.2 million contract was awarded under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program and will see ICON develop “space-based construction technology” with the aim of creating humanity’s “first-ever construction on another planetary body.”

Concept render of ICON's proposed system. Image credit: ICON

The technology system, which ICON names Olympus, seeks to primarily use local Lunar and Martian resources as building materials. As part of this, the company plans on using lunar regolith samples brought back from the Apollo missions as well as regolith replicas to further understand their mechanical behavior. ICON’s hardware and software will also be tested in a lunar gravity simulation flight to study their potential performance beyond Earth.

If successful, the system may be used to create critical infrastructure on the Moon, including landing pads, blast shields, and roads. ...

World's first 100% bio-based 3D printed home unveiled at the University of Maine

2022-11-22T12:06:00-05:00

The University of Maine has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s first 3D printed home made entirely with bio-based materials. The home, developed by the university’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC), measures 600 square feet and features walls, floors, and a roof made of 3D printed wood fibers and bio-resins.

Titled BioHome3D, the single-family project was printed offsite in four modules before being transported to its current site and assembled in half a day. Sandwiched within the 3D printed structure, wall and roof insulation are made of wood, while floor tiles are made from recycled materials. The house itself is also fully recyclable.

Photo credit: University of Maine

“Many technologies are being developed to 3D print homes, but unlike BioHome3D, most are printed using concrete,” said Dr. Habib Dagher, ASCC executive director. “However, only the concrete walls are printed on top of a conventionally cast concrete foundation. Traditional wood framing or wood t...

BIG and ICON’s community of 100 3D printed homes begins construction in Texas

2022-11-10T14:28:00-05:00

Construction has commenced on the largest community of 3D printed residences in the United States. The hundred-home 'Wolf Ranch' development was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and 3D printing technology group ICON and is being constructed in the city of Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin.

Concept image courtesy of ICON / BIG

The scheme is comprised of eight floorplans ranging from 1,574 to 2,112 square feet, split between three and four-bedroom units. The interior material palette includes printed wall textures and polished concrete floors, while the homes' exteriors will be chosen from 24 elevation styles. The roof of each home will also include solar panels.

Concept image courtesy of ICON / BIG

The interior and exterior walls will be delivered using a fleet of 3D printing robots, which the team believes will yield less waste and more design freedom. The development partners also see the accelerated construction process behind the community as a precedent for addressing the ...

ETH Zurich students and researchers build prototype 3D printed 'eggshell pavilion'

2022-10-03T11:17:00-04:00

A group of faculty and students from ETH Zurich has completed a prototype architectural pavilion whose production merges 3D printing with computational design. Unveiled at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, the Eggshell Pavilion’s development seeks to demonstrate how "digital design techniques and robotic 3D printing can enable the creation of freeform concrete structures out of recycled ultra-thin formwork."

The pavilion’s design and fabrication was driven by design algorithms that generated both the geometry of the structure and the fabrication data needed to 3D print the pavilion. The team believes that this combination of computational design and robotic fabrication can unlock the potential for designers to shape concrete elements efficiently, avoiding traditional labor-and-cost-intensive formwork processes.

The 3D printed formwork of the Eggshell...

Cornell professors are building the first multistory 3D printed structure in the U.S.

2022-09-22T11:25:00-04:00

Construction is underway in Houston on the first multistory 3D printed building in the United States. Designed by two assistant professors of architecture at Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), the two-story, single-family home merges 3D printed concrete with a traditional timber frame, creating what designers Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic believe is a precedent for future 3D printed multifamily and mixed-use developments.

When completed, the 4,000-square-foot home will contain three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a two-car garage, while a 40-foot-high chimney will make the home one of the tallest 3D printed structures in the U.S.

Construction progress using COBOD BOD2 3D construction printer. Image credit: Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic/Courtesy of Cornell Chronicle

The project is the latest by Lok and Zivkovic to investigate applications of 3D printing in architecture. The professors, who are also co-principals of HANNAH Design Office, have previously experiment...

IAAC team 3D prints a zero-waste housing prototype using local earth

2022-09-12T18:13:00-04:00

Barcelona's Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Italian 3D printer manufacturer WASP have created a building they say is the first made entirely of local materials and 3D printing technology in Spain.

Called "TOVA," the project was developed by a team of students and researchers from the 3D Printing Architecture (3DPA) postgraduate program of IAAC. The endeavor was born out of the institution’s ongoing research to find new ways of facing the social and environmental challenges of the future through its various education and research programs. The structure was conceived as a prototype for sustainable housing that could be built anywhere in the world.

Photo by Gregori Civera

TOVA was constructed at the Valldaura Labs facilities on the outskirts of Barcelona and is part of a larger project in collaboration with WASP that envisions a complete house. Together the teams are exploring the future of housing solutions as the threat of a global housing emergency loom...

Montana makes history as the first U.S. state to approve 3D printed alternatives to concrete walls

2022-08-31T17:51:00-04:00

Montana has become the first state in the nation to adopt broad-ranging regulatory approval for the use of 3D printing in construction.

The state’s building code regulators recently voted to approve local contractor Tim Stark’s request to 3D print walls as an equal replacement for either CMUs or standard cored concrete blocks.

Stark was petitioning to use the special wall prototype developed by the Florida-based construction technology company Apis Cor and later tested at the University of Connecticut’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, resulting in a specification that was published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in 2019.

Stark seeks to incorporate 3D printing into multiple housing developments in the hopes of expediting the construction process while at the same time reducing overal...

MIT develops 3D printed material that uses air pressure to warn about its own movement

2022-08-12T11:58:00-04:00

Researchers at MIT have developed a type of 3D printed material that can sense how it is moving and interacting with its surrounding environment. The 3D printed lattice materials contain networks of air-filled channels, allowing engineers to detect when bending, squeezing, or stretching of the structure causes a change in air pressure through the channels.

“The idea with this work is that we can take any material that can be 3D printed and have a simple way to route channels throughout it so we can get sensorization with structure,” said Lillian Chin, a graduate student at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) who co-led the study. “And if you use really complex materials, then you can have motion, perception, and structure all in one.”

Air-filled channels embedded within the structure connect to pressure sensors (pile of chips in the foreground), which actively measure the pressure change of these "fluidic sensors." Image: Courtesy of the research...

NASA and AI SpaceFactory’s vaulted lunar outpost will be 3D printed by autonomous robots

2022-07-01T12:09:00-04:00

AI SpaceFactory and the NASA Kennedy Space Center have unveiled the design of LINA, a 3D printed structure intended to become a lunar outpost. Designed to be constructed by autonomous robots on the Moon's south pole, the scheme is defined by Romanesque arches that can withstand high compressive loads with minimal material.

Video via AI SpaceFactory on YouTube

LINA’s structural concept will be 3D printed using an Earth-sourced polymer and lunar regolith. Unlike conventional 3D printing where layers are added parallel to the ground, LINA will be 3D printed at a 60-degree angle to allow construction of the vaulted roof. The arches will be topped with 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) of lunar regolith to provide protection from radiation, micrometeorites, lunar seismic activity, and extreme thermal swings.

Image via AI SpaceFactory

The outpost’s location near the rim of the Shackleton crater on the lunar south pole offers near-continuous sunlight on the crater’s peaks, which the team will exploit...

Alquist 3D begins 3D printing 200 homes in rural Virginia

2022-04-29T12:39:00-04:00

3D printed home specialist Alquist 3D has announced plans to build what it calls the largest 3D printed home building project in the world. The initiative is dubbed Project Virginia and will see the development of 200 homes across the state. Alquist will kick off the project with a demonstration near the site of the first two 3D printed homes in Pulaski, Virginia today, Friday, April 29.

Project Virginia follows Alquist’s recent Habitat for Humanity project in Williamsburg, Virginia, a 1,200-square-foot, three-bed, two-bathroom home, whose exterior shell was printed in just 22 hours. The company claims that this was the first owner-occupied, 3D printed home in the world and Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D printed home in the country (a similar HfH project in Tempe, Arizona lays claim to the same distinction). The initiative hopes that this structure, along with Project Virginia, can serve as blueprints for delivering affordable housing in rural and underserved regions of America.

...

ICON's latest military project will produce the largest 3D printed structures in North America

2022-04-11T18:01:00-04:00

The Department of Defense (DOD) has once again teamed up with construction technology company ICON to produce three residential structures for the Fort Bliss military installation in El Paso. At 5,700 square feet apiece, the DOD says they will represent the largest 3D printed structures in the Americas once construction is completed.

Companies had been prevented from even applying for DOD contracts until a recent change to the federal Unified Facilities Criteria (or UFC) allowed for the inclusion of 3D printing technology companies like the Austin-based startup, which immediately produced a design for a Marine Corps barracks facility at Texas’ Camp Swift Training Center.

Image courtesy of Logan Architecture.

Leapfrogging off of this past experience, ICON will again incorporate its patented Vulcan printer and Lavacrete material to create three separate barracks, designed by Austin-based Logan Architecture, that will be realized in a period of about ten months.

Photo courtesy of ICON

“T...

Japanese construction startup 3D prints affordable egg-shaped dwelling in under 24 hours

2022-03-15T17:25:00-04:00

Last year Japan’s Serendix Partners caught our eye with its concept for spherical, 3D-printed houses. Not only do they have a stylish, futuristic appeal, Serendix wants them to be low-priced enough to make the cost of buying their 3D-printed houses comparable to that of a budget-friendly new car.

From start to finish, the small, egg-shaped dwelling, called the Sphere, took 23 hours and 12 minutes to build. The home, which won NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge in 2015, was designed by Japanese architect Masayuki Sono. It was constructed in the city of Komaki in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture and measures 107.6 square feet across. According to Japan Today, Serendix was able to print a 20-metric ton reinforced concrete frame for the home, with assembly of the pieces taking just three hours. The painting of the structure’s exterior reportedly took most of the time.

Serendix says the Sphere meets Japanese earthquake and European insulation standards. The company hopes to offer the 3D-printed house at a price of three million yen, which is a little over $25,000.