- Icon’s competition seeks affordable 3D-printed home designs.
- The $99,000 construction cap aims to demonstrate 3D printing’s potential for quality.
- Selected designs to be developed further and built for an affordable community.
Construction-tech startup Icon has announced the six winners of its Initiative 99 competition, which challenged students and professional architects to design 3D-printed homes that could be built for $99,000 or less.
The winning concepts, ranging from 335 to 1,369 square feet, showcase innovative features such as private open-air children’s play areas, elevated designs for flood-prone regions, and modular configurations that allow for easy customization.
Addressing affordability in 3D printed housing
The Initiative 99 competition aims to address the issue of affordability in the 3D-printed housing market, where many existing and upcoming homes come to a substantial investment.
By capping the construction cost at $99,000, Icon seeks to demonstrate that 3D-printed homes can be built without sacrificing quality, sustainability, or resilience.
The winning designs also tackle the industry’s pain point of inefficiency by proposing solutions such as shared walls and simultaneous printing of multiple units.
Plans for development and construction
Icon plans to develop these designs further in the second phase of the competition, during which the exact purchase price will be determined. In collaboration with Austin-based nonprofit Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Icon will select a final design to be built for a local, affordable, tiny home community.
The six winning concepts, featured in Icon’s digital catalog called Codex, serve as a testament to the potential of 3D printing technology in creating affordable and innovative housing solutions.
This initiative marks a significant step towards making 3D-printed homes more accessible to a wider range of buyers and addressing the growing need for affordable housing.
