These Adorable 3D-Printed Houses Could Solve Homelessness

Each took just 24 hours to build using a massive 3D printer.

Ground Breaking

In May, housing nonprofit New Story shared a rendering of plans to 3D-print an entire neighborhood. That vision's now coming to life, with the Wednesday unveiling of the first houses in this project, in what'll ultimately become a wholly unique community of 50 homes in Mexico.

New Story created the 500-square-foot homes using the Vulcan II, a 3D-printer developed by project partner Icon, an Austin-based construction tech company. Each of the two-bedroom, one-bathroom houses took about 24 hours to print, which the companies spread out over several days.

 

Domestic Upgrade

The families that will move into the 3D-printed houses earn a median monthly income of less than $80, and many currently live in simple shacks that don't adequately protect from the elements. As New Story cofounder Alexandria Lafci told Fast Company, most of the families slated to move into the 3D-printed neighborhood have never had indoor plumbing before.

Now that these first homes are complete, other locations with inadequately housed or homeless populations might be encouraged to take a chance on 3D-printed houses.

“We feel like we’ve proved [sic] what’s possible by bringing this machine down to a rural area in Mexico, in a seismic zone, and successfully printing these first few houses," New Story CEO Brett Hagler told Fast Company. "Once people see it in person," he added, "it’s no longer a crazy idea."

READ MORE: The world’s first 3D-printed neighborhood now has its first houses [Fast Company]

More on the houses: Watch a 3D-Printed Neighborhood Spring up From Nothing