Taking a new approach to 3D printing homes and buildings, construction technology company Icon just unveiled a new machine capable of continuous two-story construction.
Looking a bit like a giant drafting lamp, the company’s new robotic-arm 3D printer enables multistory construction because of its huge reach. Technically, it’s an articulated arm on a rotating base. The major innovation, and key to its speed and accuracy, Icon says, is its stabilizing tool head that keeps the extruder nozzle exactly where it should be, compensating for wind, vibrations, and other forces.
Called Phoenix, the construction 3D printer introduces the capability of printing an entire building enclosure including foundations and roof structures, not just walls and some internal features, like most construction 3D printers.
“With Phoenix, we wanted to create something that was faster – faster to set-up, faster to transport, and faster to move between build sites,” says Michael McDaniel, Icon’s director of product design. “We also wanted to create something that was bigger […] something that broke us out of architecture constraints and rectangular build volume.
By increasing speed and size and decreasing setup time and the number of required operators, this advanced robotic system will reduce printing costs by half compared to its predecessor, the Icon Vulcan, the company says.
Projects using Phoenix will be priced per square foot starting at $25/square foot for wall systems or $80/square foot including foundation and roof. This cost to build is lower than the most recent publicly available data for conventional construction of wall systems, according to Icon.
“This wall system cost would represent a savings of up to $25,000 for the average American home versus conventional construction,” Icon says.
The first prototype, completed in early 2024, the House of Phoenix, is 27-feet tall and 110-feet long and is now on display in Austin. Yet, this structure is not the first multistory home or building to be 3D printed.
Construction company Peri 3D is using a COBOD gantry-style 3D printing on a current project in Texas. The two-story single-family home integrates what the company calls a resilient structural system that leverages a hybridized construction method.
The Icon multistory building prototype, in contrast, does not employ additional structural beams or supports and does not require scaffolding.
In addition, the new concrete Icon uses can withstand hurricanes, heavy storms and other severe weather in Texas that is becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, the company says.
“In the future, I believe nearly all construction will be done by robots, and nearly all construction-related information will be processed and managed by AI systems,” says Jason Ballard, Icon co-founder and CEO. “It is clear to me that this is the way to cut the cost and time of construction in half while making homes that are twice as good and more faithfully express the values and hopes of the people who live in them.”
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