It’s taken almost two years but a planned community of homes made with a gigantic 3D printer in Georgetown, Texas is almost complete.reports that the homes, which are part of a community called Wolf Ranch, are being built with a large 3D printer called the Vulcan that’s 45 feet wide and weighs more than 4.75 tons. The project is part of a joint venture with the 3D printing construction developer ICON and the home construction company Lennar.
Once printed, the walls look like giant stretches of corduroy, but they are designed to be resilient and sustainable even in extreme weather. They are also water resistant and energy efficient. The contemporary ranch-style designs for the houses were provided by the architectural firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, according to
. The construction process has also been streamlined over the course of the project. ICON senior project manager Conner Jenkins toldthat construction started with five different building crews but it’s since been whittled down to just one crew and one robot printer. The only downside is the thickness of the walls interferes with WiFi signals. Residents have had to usewith broadcast signals located throughout the home instead of just a single router.
ICON isn’t just using its large scale 3D printer to make homes on Earth. NASA is reportedly interested in using the technology to build structures on the moon for its