DALTX Real EstateDALTX Real EstateDALTX Real Estate
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
Reading: 3D-Printed Community Is on The Way in Austin. Can This Technology Work in D-FW?
Share
Font ResizerAa
DALTX Real EstateDALTX Real Estate
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
  • Home
  • Guest Post
  • Agents
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Advertise With Us
Follow US
© DALTX. All Rights Reserved.
DALTX Real Estate > Lennar Homes > 3D-Printed Community Is on The Way in Austin. Can This Technology Work in D-FW?
Lennar Homes

3D-Printed Community Is on The Way in Austin. Can This Technology Work in D-FW?

4 Min Read
SHARE
Contents
Would 3D-Printed Technology Work in DFW?More on the Technology
austin3d-2
Austin-based ICON is developing a 100-home 3D-printed community. (ICON)

As developers dealt with hurdles related to supply chains and labor shortages, they had to take notice of a recent home building development in Austin.

Homebuilder Lennar Homes and ICON, an Austin-based construction firm, jointly announced that a new 100-home development in Austin will be the world’s largest community of 3D-printed structures. Bjarke Ingels Group is assisting with the design. The project is scheduled to break ground next year.

The announcement came with digital renderings of the neighborhood showing rows of homes topped with photovoltaic roofs. The houses will be printed on-site using advanced robotic construction and concrete-based building material.

ICON touted the method, saying its technology is faster and cheaper than conventional construction methods that use steel, aluminum, and lumber. According to ICON, the process will include five app-controlled robotic printers, each weighing nearly two tons, which will squeeze out a concrete mix called Lavacrete (think of a Dairy Queen soft-serve) at five to seven linear inches per second.

austin3d-2
ICON and Lennar are collaborating on 3D-printed houses in Austin. (ICON)

Would 3D-Printed Technology Work in DFW?

Even with supply and labor issues, housing developments are coming up in droves across Dallas-Fort Worth, from the suburbs to the exurbs to the countryside.

austin3d-2
Tom Woliver

We asked a few of the more active development firms in D-FW, and only Tom Woliver of Dallas-based Oxland Advisors answered the call.

Woliver has said that his projects don’t take that first step until their feasibility is absolutely clear and the accumulated data makes sense. He said the 3D-printed housing concept is “a very interesting innovation.

“It is exciting to see this new innovation in a much-needed industry, however, it often takes years to decades to implement these new technologies,” he said.

Woliver listed three stages for the 3D-printed housing concept to work. Additional layers of training and education will be needed to service these new products, he said.

“And lastly, it will likely take decades for the building codes and city ordinances to catch up on what the acceptable practices are,” he said. “All this being said, it is only a matter of time before these types of innovations enter into this much-needed industry.”

austin3d-2
The 3D-printed homes will be topped with solar cells (ICON).

More on the Technology

The 3D-printed community in Austin already has had some spot testing. ICON and Kansas City developer 3Strands partnered to build 3D-printed homes in East Austin. Four homes ranging in size from about 1,000 to 2,000 square feet were printed in less than a week in Austin.

ICON said its proprietary 3-D printing technology can produce structures of up to 3,000 square feet. Lennar’s contribution will be roofs, windows, doors, and finishes. The process has its drawbacks and challenges, according to Ars Technica, which reviewed ICON’s claims of construction brevity and environmental savings.

The Austin community is scheduled for completion in 2022. In a statement, ICON co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard called the Austin neighborhood “a watershed moment in the history of community-scale development.”


To learn more about the technology, visit ICON’s FAQ section.

Elon Musk Making a Corporate Move With Affordable Housing in Mind For His Workforce
Lights, Camera, Action! A Step-By-Step Guide to The Design/Build Process
The Latest Trend In Easy Living? Our Barndominium Life
INFOGRAPHIC: North Texas Ranks in 7 Best Texas Cities for Employment Growth
Starting Sept. 1, HB 2439 Will Provide Choice, Diversity in Housing
TAGGED:AustinBuilding TrendsICON
Share This Article
Facebook Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Economist Has Spoken: Texas Housing Growth Factors ‘Have Peaked and Are Slowing’
Next Article A Max Levy-Designed Northern Hills Modern That Embraces Nature And Warmth
Popular News
Affordable Housing

Reducing Minimum Lot Size: Neighborhood Nightmare or Affordable Housing Dream Come True?

Tudor Townhome in Craig Ranch Isn’t Your Typical Collin County Home
Brand New Bruton Terrace Listing Perfect for First-Time Buyers
This University Park Gem Hit The Market And Sold With a Bang to Cap Off 2021
Dilbeck Midcentury Modern in Bluffview Estates Beautifully Updated by Bodron + Fruit
about us

DaltxRealEstate.com is the largest real estate blog and the only one in North Texas.

Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Contact Us
  • Paid Guest Post Submission

Categories

  • Wednesday WTF
  • East Dallas
  • Monday Morning Millionaire
  • Upon Closer Inspection

Get Involved

  • Advertise With Us
  • Write for Us: Submit Guest Post

Find Us on Socials

© DALTX. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?