The two California-based companies teamed up to create the first U.S.-based neighborhood of fully 3D-printed homes. Rancho Mirage, a former wealthy city in Los Angeles, is the next testing ground for real estate developer Palari and construction technology firm Mighty Buildings. According to The Guardian, the two companies are working together to sell and resell 15 3D-printed homes built in a warehouse and later shipped to their new plots.
Companies say their process is cheaper and less environmentally destructive than traditional construction, but it is also a neat demonstration of how printing technology can be practical. “This will be the first fundamental implementation of our vision for the future of housing,” Alexei Dubov, co-founder and COO of Mighty Buildings, told The Guardian.
The homes will be modern units of the same century with three bedrooms and two bathrooms – although buyers will be able to tackle opportunities such as outdoor pools, fireplaces and even secondary structures. In the original drawing, Sam Ruben, co-founder of Mighty Buildings and head of Sustainability, told the Guardian that the construction process takes 95 percent less labor and generates 10 percent of ordinary house building waste. In some cases, the company has even set up printers to build houses overnight while employees are asleep.
The base-level home expected to cost $595,000 without any upgrades, with all the comforts almost doubled. It is not exactly the solution to the affordable housing crisis and it is actually that much cheaper than Rancho Mirage’s comparable list. That said, Reuben said the company is targeting the “missing middle” class of owners who are “on the market” even if they want to buy their own home but cannot afford what is already on the market.
He told The Guardian, “These are your teachers, your firefighters, the people who serve a community,” but how insane the housing market in California is, so they never got a chance to buy a home.” Sam Ruben, co-founder and chief stability officer at Mighty, said during a recent visit to headquarters that the company’s printers are capable of building a 350-square-foot home in less than 24 hours. Often printers are ready to build a house overnight, while workers are asleep.
