Since 2018, Icon has been 3D printing homes using a robotic arm that meticulously layers a concrete-like material. The Austin-based company announced plans in 2021 to flex that same arm—or several—by 3D printing a subdivision of 100 single-family residences designed by global architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with home construction company Lennar. This summer, Icon’s robotic printer, Vulcan, is finishing up the last few 3D-printed residences for the Wolf Ranch development in Georgetown, Texas. The company is calling it the world’s largest 3D-printed community.

The development’s 3D-printed homes, called the Genesis Collection, come in eight different three- to four-bedroom floor plans that range from 1,500 to 2,100 square feet, with prices starting from $430,000 up to about $600,000. So far, a little more than a quarter of the 100 3D-printed homes have been sold, according to Reuters.

Icon says that 3D printing homes is faster and less expensive than traditional construction, and minimizes construction material waste. The homes take about three weeks to finish printing, with the foundation and metal roofs with photovoltaic solar panels installed traditionally. The company says its proprietary building material, Lavacrete, will last longer than standard concrete masonry, providing resilience to extreme weather in a time of increasing natural disasters and climate change. The Lavacrete walls are also designed to be resistant to water, mold, and termites.

The 3D-printed homes for the Wolf Ranch subdivision, called the Genesis Collection, take about three weeks to finish printing using Icon’s robotic printer, Vulcan. The foundation and metal roofs are installed traditionally.
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“Additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize the built environment as it gets adopted by the industry at scale,” said Martin Voelkle, a partner at BIG, when the project plans were announced in 2o21. “The 3D-printed architecture and the photovoltaic roofs are innovations that are significant steps toward reducing waste in the construction process, as well as toward making our homes more resilient, sustainable, and energy self-sufficient.”

The goal for the development was to answer a need for housing in an efficient way. “Icon exists as a response to the global housing crisis and to put our technology in service to the world,” said the 3D printing firm’s cofounder and CEO Jason Ballard in 2021. “The United States faces a deficit of approximately five million new homes, so there is a profound need to swiftly increase supply without compromising quality, beauty, or sustainability—and that is exactly the strength of our technology.”

The Wolf Ranch renderings provided by Icon in the early stages of the project showed a residential development of 100 Lavacrete houses arranged in uniformity, like a Levittown of the future. Recent photos of the near-complete Texas subdivision stay pretty true to that original vision.

Icon’s first 3D-printed house was a 350-square-foot Austin tiny home that took just 47 hours to complete—and attracted a range of interested clients and collaborators. The company has since created a 3D-printed affordable housing community in Mexico, a 51-acre development of 3D-printed homes for people coming out of chronic homelessness in Austin, as well as the country’s first 3D-printed housing development and the largest 3D-printed building in North America, both in Texas. After building a 3D-printed structure at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, Icon is now working with NASA to develop 3D printer capable of building infrastructure on the moon.

This story was updated on August 13, 2024, to add information about the near completion of Icon’s 3D-printed Wolf Ranch community in Georgetown, Texas.

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