The company unveiled its first 3D-printed home, built using its robotic technology, at South by Southwest in 2018.
Homes fit with metal roofs and solar panels are sustainably built using Icon’s home-sized 3D printer, the Vulcan. The 46.5-foot wide printer uses Icon’s proprietary building material, Lavacrete, to construct the walls of each home.Lavacrete is Icon’s high-strength concrete that is said to be resistant to water, mold, termites and fire damage.
This method gives Icon’s homes a unique, futuristic appearance with seemingly little to no right angles. According to Icon, the Vulcan can print homes up to 3,000 square feet without relocation and can “produce resilient, single-story homes faster than conventional methods and with less waste and more design freedom.”
It only takes three weeks for the Vulcan to finish constructing the walls of a 3D home, which Lennar estimates is about 30 percent less construction time for a traditional home,