DSNS 546 High-Tech Case Study

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3D Printed Community Tabasc, Mexico

ARCHITECTS: ICON & Echale SIZE: 500 sqft

In a rural area on the outskirts of a town in Southern Mexico, a giant, 33-foot-long 3D printer recently built the walls of the first homes in the world’s first 3D-printed neighborhood in Tabasco, Mexico. The 500 square feet houses are built by ICON, a construction tech company based in Austin. They began developing 3D printer rugged enough to work in challenging conditions. ICON uses the Vulcan 3D printer. This printer is designed to produce resilient single-story buildings faster, with more design freedom and at a more affordable price. This printer can print approximately 2,000 square feet with an adjustable with that accommodates various slab sizes. The Vulcan has the capability to 3D print at night an LED lighting system. 3D printing at night is still not recommended and typically not practiced. The material ICON uses for printing is Lavacrete. Lavacrete is Portland cement-based mix that consists of raw materials and additives and has a compressive strength of 6,000 psi. For the operation and installation process you only need a crew of three to

four people. The Vulcan has data driven performance with dynamic motion, environmental, and control sensors that can capture real time data. Software monitors the weather conditions, and the machine can adjust the mixture in layers to build floors and walls. The mixture gets adjusted to be the correct viscosity to print the same quality throughout the day as weather changes. The blueprint can be slightly adjusted on site. It takes 24 hours per house and two houses can be printed simultaneously.Nonetheless the Weather and environmental factors could make 3D printing in commercial construction more difficult to work. 3D printing must be monitored by real humans, otherwise it can become an expensive mess. The 3D process takes the place of traditional cladding, framing, and sheetrock, however there are still many parts that cannot be 3D printed.


Temporary Tent Structure

Lavacrete Mix

3D Printed House


3D Printer Framework

Slicer Software for Blueprints

Moveable Tracks




3D printed houses can be a huge benefit in the future, however there still needs to be alot of advancements in the technology for it to be more succesful. The 3d printer used is designed to produce resilient single-story buildings faster, with more design freedom and at a more affordable price. This can be beneficial for rapid fabrication in the future.


SOURCES “ICON + New Story + ECHALE Unveil First Homes in 3D-Printed Community.” ICON, www.iconbuild. com/updates/icon-new-story-echaleunveil-first-homes-in-3d-printedcommunity. “World’s First 3D-Printed Neighborhood in Southern Mexico Has Its First Houses.” Designboom, 13 Dec. 2019, www.designboom.com/ architecture/worlds-first-3d-printedneighborhood-in-southern-mexicohouses-12-12-2019/. Young, Robin, and Serena McMahon. “World’s 1st 3D Printed Neighborhood Being Built In Mexico.” World’s 1st 3D Printed Neighborhood Being Built In Mexico | Here & Now, WBUR, 6 Feb. 2020, www.wbur. org/hereandnow/2020/02/06/worldsfirst-3d-printed-neighborhoodmexico.


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