3D printing is creating nearly any object from tools and toys, body parts, and even housing. It’s a tech revolution that is taking place around the world.
Now Échale, a social housing production company from Mexico; and Icon, a Texas-based construction technologies company are building a village for residents living in poverty. The companies are “dedicated to revolutionizing homebuilding and making dignified housing the standard for people throughout the world.”
Earlier we read about a street full of 3D-printed houses in Texas. Now, a complete neighborhood made out of 3D printers has emerged in Nacajuca, Mexico. This project is part of a new story‘s experimentation that could prove to be a viable housing option for the poorest communities in the world.
Image courtesy: New Story
Following are some of its features
- The houses are single-story high with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
- Houses are built using the 11-foot tall 3-D printer.
- Homes are not only good to look at, but are also extremely resilient and sturdy. They are also constructed to withstand natural disasters. These homes have already withstood a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.
- Constructers also have plans for roads, a soccer field, a school, a market, and a library.
- Each 500-square-foot has been finished with roofs, windows, and interiors.
- The residents will receive them at a zero interest, zero profit mortgage.
- It will cost them about 400 Mexican pesos (about US$20 per month), which will run for seven years.
D’Esposito who leads construction research at JLL, a commercial real estate firm, said, “It really is a very effective and efficient way to build a small segment of properties, but it’s not something that applies across the broader commercial real estate ecosystem,”
“We don’t know exactly how these buildings will perform over decades or what the long-term value retention will be for them. So if you’re talking to an investor or lender, that’s a big yellow flag.”
Image courtesy: New Story
