In a residential area outside the city of Austin, Texas (USA), there is a small house of a man named Tim Shea, 70 years old. He had his own home after years of homelessness. The special thing is that he was the first American to live in a house built entirely with 3D printing technology.
Sharing with the New York Post, Mr. Shea said he lived temporarily in a car. One day, a non-profit startup called Icon met him and said he was a great candidate for a housing project they were looking to work on in the Austin suburbs.
The house is built by Icon Company with 3D printing technology, in the suburbs of Austin, Texas (USA). Photo: Icon To build, Icon uses a large 3D printer on the surface of nearly 40m2. The house for Mr. Shea has full amenities, including bedroom, bathroom and living room connected to the kitchen. In September 2020, Mr. Shea officially moved to his 3D printing house, ending years of temporary living. Earlier this year, this house protected him from a historic blizzard in Texas, so good he had to say, “I didn’t even know there was a blizzard until I pulled the curtains up!” Compared with traditional building materials such as brick, wood or steel, the 3D printer uses a special type of “flexible concrete” with high durability. CNBC quoted Jason Ballard, CEO of Icon, said that this method saves 10-30% of construction cost and several months of construction compared to traditional houses with the same area of use. So far, the success of this new technology-built model has helped Icon raise $ 59 million. This company has provided more than 20 homes for homeless people in the US and Mexico.
You must log in to post a comment.