Lennar To Build World’s Largest Neighborhood Of 3D-Printed Homes

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The Austin community is scheduled to break ground in 2022.

Lennar, one of the nation’s leading homebuilders, and ICON, a construction technologies company pioneering large-scale 3D printing, have committed to build the largest community of 3D-printed homes to date using innovative robotics, software and advanced materials. 

Breaking ground in 2022, the 100-home community will be codesigned by architecture firm, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group.

The Tuesday announcement deepens a relationship that began with Lennar’s investment in Austin-based ICON’s recent $207-million financing round and offers a promising path toward delivering affordable, technology-driven homes that meet rising demand.

Homes Dubbed as Resilient, Energy-Efficient

ICON’s 3D printing technology produces resilient, energy-efficient homes faster than conventional construction methods with less waste and more design freedom – keeping construction projects on schedule and on budget. 

Designed and engineered from the ground up for volume 3D printing of homes with precision and speed, ICON’s Vulcan construction system can deliver homes and structures up to 3,000 square feet that are built to the International Building Code (IBC) structural code standard and expected to last as long or longer than standard Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU) built homes.

ICON’s proprietary wall system and advanced materials are stronger and longer-lasting than traditional building materials and provide safer, more resilient homes that are designed to withstand extreme weather, greatly reduce the impact of natural disasters, and be printed at high speeds and at scale.

3-D Homes: Solution to Housing Shortage

ICON— which is based in the Texas capital — previously made waves in March 2020 when it debuted a community of six, 400-square-foot homes in the metropolitan area, which it claimed were the country’s first.

Icon has already delivered more than two dozen 3D-printed homes in Mexico and the United States, many for those experiencing homelessness or poverty. The Real Deal.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance firm, estimated that at the end of last year, the U.S. had a single-family home shortage of 3.8 million – something 3-D printing could help solve, specifically in areas where affordable homes are scarce, wrote The Independent.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the planned homes would be priced on a similar level to that of other homes by Lennar in the same area.

The Austin Board of Realtors say that the median price of a home in the metro area of the city was $450,000 last month.

Source: Globe St.