Is it possible to build a home with a full living room, kitchen and hallway in less than 1 day? At first glance, the task is impossible, but modern technologies do not stand still and from garages and laboratories of enthusiasts penetrate real life, improving it. It would seem that not so long ago, 3D printers printed small parts for several hours. And today, their big industrial cousins can already print you an entire house in less than 24 hours.
The ultra-fast "house printing" was undertaken by the American startup ICON in cooperation with the New Story charity. According to the developers, in order to print a simple one-story house with an area of 60 square meters, their construction printer takes 12 to 24 hours. In addition, ICON officials say their homes are the first 3D-printed houses to have a fully printed façade with software code and are allowed for human habitation. In addition, such houses (the maximum area of which does not exceed 80 square meters) are quite cheap: the cost of one building does not exceed USD 10,000, but experts do not exclude that in the future the price may drop by half.
“After the walls are printed, windows, a roof are installed, plumbing and electrical wiring are installed. The entire period of work, including finishing the premises, takes less than one day. In the future, we want to create robots that will install windows and a roof after the end of printing, as well as drones that would be responsible for painting the house."
The printing itself is now being produced by the construction 3D printer Vulcan. Despite the bulkiness of the structure, it is quite easy to dismantle and move from place to place. Vulcan prints with completely normal concrete, which is laid in 100 layers and retains its shape as it hardens. The walls remain pliable for another 2-3 days after the end of printing, but you can start living in the house immediately after the end of production.
The first house is printed in Austin, where the company's headquarters are located. The next step is the production of houses in El Salvador, in the United States and in several developing countries.
Vladimir Kuznetsov
Promotional video: