9
EZTHE WASHINGTON POST.
SATURDAy, MARCH 7, 2020dramatically reduce the time and m oney spent o n construction.
“I see this innovative idea as being a powerful piece of the puzzle, along with
other ideas of w hat it’s g oing to take to have m ore affordably built houses,” s aid Alan
Graham, a real estate developer turned founder of the nonprofit Mobile Loaves &
Fishes, which o pened the v illage i n 2016. T he average age of r esidents here is 5 5, he
said.
These 400-square-foot houses are the nation’s first 3-D-printed residences,
according to IconIts process — which incorporates an 11-foot-tall printer that
weighs 3,800 pounds — relies on robotics. Beads of a pliable concrete material
dubbed L avacrete ooze from t he behemoth p rinter in ripples that stack and harden
into a wall with curved corners.
The idea is to c ut t he time a nd as much as half the c ost associated with traditional
construction, limit the e nvironmental f ootprint and trim t he n umber of workers o n
crews, s aid Jason B allard, Icon’s c o-founder and C EO.
The process, he a dded, also could allow m ore design freedom.
“Because 3-D printing uses s lopes a nd curves, in t he f uture new design languages
will e merge t hat are only a ccessible t hrough 3 -D printing,” B allard said.
Icon has generated interest from the federal government, including NASA and
the Defense Department, whose Defense Innovation U nit is focused o n strengthen-
ing national security with new commercial technology. The unit (which has an
Austin office) is working under a contract with Icon to train Marines and develop
prototype structures that can be built quickly for its military and humanitarian
needs. In late January, about a dozen Marines trained for a week at Icon. Further
training i s planned later this year at C amp Pendleton i n California.COVER STORY
I n 3-D printing,
one solid solution
to homelessness
A Texas project aims to reduce construction time, costs
COURTESY OF ICON