China3D printingOn September 1st, the additive manufacturing startup ICON recently received US$207 million in funding in its Series B financing. This happened in the same month that it announced the largest 3D printed structure in North America and the prototype Mars habitat. Now, as part of one of the first multi-family residential development projects, ICON has also 3D printed two other residences through Kansas City developer 3Strands and Austin-based Den Property Group, which have just been launched on the market.
The East 17th Street residential development in East Austin consists of four houses. The first floor was 3D printed before the second floor was completed using traditional construction methods. The smaller two in the community are approximately 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms.
3D printed kitchen. Image courtesy of ICON.
One of the houses has been sold, and the other is now being contracted for ICON to complete the other two larger units. They include the four-bedroom, four-bathroom single-family home, known as the “tree house”, measuring 1,928 square feet, and the four-bedroom, three-bathroom Skyview residence, measuring 1,521 square feet.
3Strands CEO Gary O’Dell explained that his company was founded in 2012, turned to ICON when it was difficult to obtain affordable housing in 2018, and started looking for new ways to develop cheaper housing. When they realized the feasibility of ICON’s additive construction technology and the professionalism of the team, they began planning to develop the land owned by 3Strands in East Austin.
Two new projects in East 17th Street Residences. Image courtesy of ICON.
The first floor was designed by Logan Architecture and made it into reality using ICON’s Vulcan building system. According to the company, the materials used to build houses are stronger and more durable than traditional building materials. In addition, ICON stated that their 3D printed structures are more resistant to fires, floods, wind and other natural disasters than traditional buildings.
Conner Jenkins, senior project manager at ICON, explained that in order to install non-printing features, the company is exploring multiple avenues. For example, to install electrical outlets, the company will slot the box while the concrete is still wet. The wires can also be inserted from above. For windows, the Vulcan system printed all four sides of the door frame and inserted the frame afterwards.According to China3D printingNetwork understanding
, The reason for only 3D printing on the first floor is related to the desire to enter the mainstream housing market, although their technology has not yet reached the level of printing multi-storey houses.
“This means that we have entered the open housing market. It is an interesting juxtaposition to see that more traditional buildings are actually stacked on top of our process. So, this is part of it, and the other part is that we have not yet printed two A story. Our printer can only print the first story now, but we hope to enter the housing market with a best-selling house.”
Based on the response so far, O’Dell believes that the new home will sell well. Housing prices in the area are close to US$1 million, which makes the prices of 3Strands’ US$745,000 and US$795,000 homes appear to be much lower.
With this in mind,
The 3D printed living room of Unit 3. Image courtesy of ICON.
Austin designer Claire Zinnecker is responsible for interior decoration and fixtures, relying on the modern West Texas feel, including natural wood, metal finishes and earthy tiles. The result is an interesting juxtaposition of texture and tone, with layered gray cement appearing opposite the smooth white wall. Warm tones appear throughout the house in the form of brown wooden cabinets in the bedroom and red clay tile floors in the bathroom. All in all, the printed walls seamlessly incorporate contemporary aesthetics, with curves and textures reminding visitors that this home is completely unique. Of course, concrete is a very popular material choice in modern homes. Therefore, when it comes to new technologies aimed at reducing costs, labor, and ecological footprint, it is important to consider the overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with materials. Worldwide, it is said that the carbon footprint of concrete production is second only to the United States and China.
The appearance of Unit 2. Image courtesy of ICON.
China3D printingNet Comments: This huge impact represents the entire industry, which means that compared with the world’s construction giants, small startups like him have a marginal effect. Despite this, he said that the company is aware of the need to develop new and more sustainable options, and with such a novel business, ICON has the opportunity to face this challenge head-on, not only in terms of construction technology, but also in materials The same is true for aspects. For this reason, this startup has a team of engineers dedicated to solving this problem.
Given the industry excitement surrounding ICON and its team and the support it received from federal agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense, the first 3D printed house development is just another first for a company that has gained significant traction in rapid growth. once. industry. What happens next will surely be equally exciting.
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