Engineer Alex Le Roux designed and built a concrete 3D printer last year as a student at Baylor University. His ultimate goal was to 3D print a small house, and now, only a few months after he developed the second iteration of the printer, he’s accomplished what he set out to do. Only a few days after Chinese construction company HuaShang Tengda made global news by 3D printing an entire villa, Le Roux has informed 3DPrint.com that he has successfully built what he states is the first livable 3D printed structure in the United States.
“This latest print has been a continuation of the previous efforts building concrete-substrate 3D printers,” Le Roux told us. “After the first printer was built, people reached out with interest in using printers or using the printer’s services, and it thus became clear that it might make sense to build a business around this technology.”
The house, which was built in Houston, Texas, was funded partly by Le Roux himself and partly by ModEco Development LLC, a Michigan-based architectural firm that embraces nontraditional and environmentally friendly methods of construction. While the house is even smaller than most tiny houses, Le Roux states that it is fully livable – but he is planning bigger things for the future.
“Moving forward, we will finish the V3 Vesta Printer, begin printing on a fully-up-to code home in Michigan in August, and then perhaps consider raising a more serious round of funding if traction continues at this pace,” he told 3DPrint.com.
“It is always worth reiterating, the main benefits of concrete-3D printing on a large scale are as follows:
1) higher customization potential
2) near zero construction waste
3) reduced need for manual labor
4) reduced time to complete project”
Those perks have been touted for a long time by experts in the architecture and construction industries, but until very recently they seemed like futuristic dreams. 3D printed buildings were something that would happen one day, somewhere in the future….but suddenly they’re a reality. What are your thoughts on this small building? Discuss further in the 3D Printed Structure forum over at 3DPB.com.