The tiny 3D-printed home at SXSW is adorable

[Note: This story has been corrected since it was published earlier in the day. The printed home cost $10,000, not $4,000 as we originally reported, but the company hopes to get the cost down to the latter number.]

The first fully permitted, 3D-printed home meant for housing people in the developing world got its big reveal at SXSW on Sunday—and it’s quite the looker.

The house, revealed in East Austin at SXSW Monday, was the result of a collaboration between Austin-based Icon, a startup focused on creating new, sustainable building practices to make quality homes accessible to all, and New Story, a nonprofit dedicated to building low-cost homes (averaging around $6,500) internationally, with local materials and workers.

The 650-square-foot, cement home was printed onsite with Icon’s quite large printer, called the Vulcan, in 24 hours. The cost of the proof-of-concept home was $10,000, but Icon hopes to bring it down to $4,000 for a home like the one printed this week.

Unlike conventional construction, the printing process allows more design flexibility (as well as practical things such as a continuous thermal envelope, high thermal mass, and close to zero waste). If the home printed at SXSW is any indication, the result can be a warm, welcoming, light-filled house with separate bedroom, living, bathroom, and kitchen areas—in addition to tons of charm.

Courtesy of New Story and ICON

The concrete was printed in layers, resulting in ridged walls that provide more visual and textural interest than those made of a flat layer of cement or cinderblocks. Clerestory and conventional windows provide plenty of light, and there’s even a sweet covered porch wrapping around two sides of the house.

Courtesy of New Story and ICON

Courtesy of New Story and ICON

Courtesy of New Story and ICON

The Vulcan is designed to work in places where conditions where availability of power, water, and technical assistance are unpredictable, with the intent of addressing housing shortages for vulnerable populations worldwide. New Story’s initial goal is to print several homes for underserved families in El Salvador in the next 18 months, adding additional communities over the next several years.

You can watch a time-lapse video of the home being printed here.