ICON

3D printing homes for the homeless

12 followers

3D printing homes for the homeless

12 followers

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Construction technologies company shifting the paradigm of homebuilding using robotics, software and advanced materials.Dignified, resilient housing at the country's only master planned development designed specifically for the chronically homeless.

Launch tags:Home•3D Printer•Robots

Launch Team

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I do not understand how these homes are the solution in developing countries. Reasons- 1) Land is scarce, your customers(home owners) in cities would want to live close by where they work, which essentially is the highly population dense areas in suburbs of big cities. Where would these dense areas have the space to construct these buildings? 2) Developing countries have cheap and affordable labor which might take the edge out of the cheap product you are providing (I am not sure how the numbers play). But the livelihood of these people are also construction based activities. With unemployment already soaring in such economies and without alternative work opportunities, how do you think 3-d printed homes will help? I am sure the founders must have thought about these issues, and would like to know their views on this.

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8yr ago

Atlas Icons

@aditya_bansal1 I hope the makers will engage your questions. They are interesting questions, especially about the impact on local labor. Providing employment opportunities for struggling communities to help raise their standard of living and quality of life is vital to sustainable, long-term solutions. I guess it is important, however, to view this as a piece in a much larger puzzle and not "the solution" but only part of it. Long-term solutions take much longer to bear fruit but addressing the immediate need for safe shelter is valid as well. It does seem that dense urban areas would pose challenges to this solution but many of the areas where this could have great impact are rural and sustained by agriculture. I can see this fitting into a broader solution. I mean, it may not solve the problem for all 1 billion homeless but even if it helps 1,000 - 10,000 - 1 million it seems like a great start. Good questions, though. Cheers.

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8yr ago

Wagadō

Toured the ICON home in Austin! Absolutely blown away by the build quality and creative use of space. My husband and I are already chatting about where we'll place our first ICON home :) Keep up the amazing work!!

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8yr ago

Token Foundry

This is awesome! I started a campaign to build a home with Designer Hangout and donations are coming in! Let's build this house! https://impact.newstorycharity.o...

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8yr ago

This is great. Plus to decor and design with best interior designer firms at affordable rates View this https://decorplusdesign.com/

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8yr ago

It seems to me that for such a house slightly different windows are needed. These seem small at the scale of the whole house. Frameless glass can do this very well. But you need to choose the right options, shop front designers will help with this. For example, https://glassstructureslimited.c... I think this version of the windows will give more light and look more stylish and modern.

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6yr ago

Product Hunt

This is incredible. I'm curious how durable these buildings are compared to traditional builds.

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8yr ago

Operation Pie

@rrhoover looks like it's all concrete except the roof. Feel like the structure would stay in tact, but roof might come off with hurricane winds.

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8yr ago

ICON

Maker

@rrhoover hey Ryan! Matthew, one of the cofounders, at New Story the nonprofit that partnered with Icon to develop the first 3D printed home for the developing world :) Before we even started on this project we knew one thing could not be compromised in any way - quality. The traditional homes we currently construct are built to survive hurricanes and earthquakes. So this was our starting point. We're happy to report that the 3D printed concrete passed the concrete PSI test with a 3X stronger rating than a traditional concrete block. In our next phase of testing, we'll continue seismic testing. So the short answer to your question: yes, these homes are durable and built to last.

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8yr ago