The World’s Largest 3D-Printed Neighborhood Is Nearly Complete in Texas

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and a development project nearing completion in Georgetown is no different. Construction tech company ICON is putting the finishing touches on the world’s largest 3D-printed neighborhood in the city just north of Austin.

“It brings a lot of efficiency to the trade market,” senior project manager Conner Jenkins told Reuters. “So, where there were maybe five different crews coming in to build a wall system, we now have one crew and one robot.”

The community, dubbed Wolf Ranch, comprises 100 homes ranging in price from around $450,000 to $600,000; roughly a quarter have already been sold. It takes about three weeks to print the single-story residences, with a nozzle squeezing out concrete walls designed to withstand extreme weather like tornadoes and maintain cool interior temperatures during hot Texas summers.

Another benefit of 3D-printed housing is sustainability — research has shown that the building method can reduce waste and carbon emissions. When the Wolf Ranch project was first announced, ICON CEO Jason Ballard called it a “watershed moment in the history of community-scale development.”