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The world’s first 3D-printed hotel is being built in a West Texas desert

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The world’s first 3D-printed hotel is being built in a West Texas desert

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The world’s first 3D-printed hotel is being built in Texas.

In the desert on the outskirts of Marfa, El Cosmico is building 43 new hotel units and 18 residentials homes — using a 3D printer, Reuters reports.

A massive 3D printer is expanding the existing hotel and campground in a West Texas desert, adding 40 acres to its current 21 acres.

Company behind world’s largest 3D-printed community to build hotel

El Cosmico owner Liz Lambert is working with Austin-based ICON, the same printing company currently finishing the world’s largest 3D-printed community in the Georgetown neighborhood of Wolf Ranch. The project’s architects come from Bjarke Ingels Group.

The expansion of El Cosmico is on track for completion by 2026. Unit prices are expected to range from $200 to $450 per night.

Read more: World’s largest 3D-printed community nears completion in this fast-growing Texas city

‘A crazy way to build’

The printer, ICON’s Vulcan, is 46.5 feet wide, 15.5 feet high, and weighs nearly five tons—the size of a crane. According to Reuters, it has already begun building two units, single-story structures 12 feet high with curved beige-colored walls. One is a three-bedroom residential space, while the other is a single hotel unit.

“Most hotels are contained within four walls and a lot of times you are building the same unit over and over and over again,” Lambert told Reuters. “I’ve never been able to build with such little constraint and such fluidity…just the curves, and the domes, and the parabolas. It’s a crazy way to build.”

How does ICON’s 3D printer work?

ICON uses a unique concrete-based material called Lavacrete, engineered for strength, affordability, and printability. The blend of ingredients is specialized according to the local weather, ICON CEO and co-founder Jason Ballard explains.

“The magic happens in the admixtures that allow us to continue printing,” Ballard said.

Humidity, temperature and irradiance also influence the material’s properties and final color, Ballard added.

According to Reuters, ICON’s Vulcan has a robotic arm and nozzle that operate over the work site on a gantry, a bridge-like structure designed to support equipment during construction. A print technician oversees the Vulcan.

Despite its involvement in El Cosmico’s expansion, the Vulcan has limitations. This year, ICON is unveiling a new printer called the Phoenix. The new printer will have the capacity to build the foundation and roof of homes rather than just the walls.

According to Ballard, the Phoenix will remove the barriers the Vulcan faces while still lowering costs and expanding design potential. Like the Vulcan, the Phoenix will also be cranelike. However, whereas the Vulcan’s robotic arm is capable of constructing single-story homes, the Phoenix is being designed for larger, building-scale construction. Its extensive range of motion allows it to print in a steady line, regardless of weather or design.

Is 3D printing better than traditional construction?

Some argue that 3D-printing homes are faster, more cost-effective, require fewer workers, and reduce construction material waste compared with traditional construction.

In an interview with Forbes, 3D printing company Mighty Buildings Chief Technology Officer Dmitry Starodubtsev said building homes this way could reduce the time needed to produce a single-family home by six months.

“We’re trying to automate the construction process, increase quality and increase factory throughput in order basically to unlock productivity in the regions with high housing demand,” Starodubtsev said. “The entire system works to eliminate as much labor hours on site as possible in order to reduce pricing and make it more affordable for different generations of people, not only millennials.”

According to Reuters, the single-story, three- to four-bedroom 3D-printed homes in Georgetown take about three weeks to finish printing.

Read more: Austin’s Icon unveils new 3D printer, AI tool, building material at SXSW

How much does a 3D-printed home cost?

According to Business Insider, ICON said it could create a 600- to 800-square-foot building for as low as $4,000 in 24 hours.

More substantial homes with additional features and higher-quality materials might cost between $50,000 and $150,000.

Highly customized or larger homes could cost anywhere from $150,000 to more than $500,000, depending on the design and the level of finishing.

How does a 3D printer work?

Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating objects from a digital file by layering material. Here’s how it works:

  • CAD software: The process begins with creating a digital 3D model using Computer-Aided Design software. The model can also be created by scanning an existing object or downloading a design from a repository.
  • Slicing: The 3D model is then divided into thin horizontal layers using slicing software. This software converts the model into a file format (such as .STL or .OBJ) that the 3D printer can read, defining how each layer should be printed.
  • Printer configuration: The printer needs to be configured based on the material used, the desired resolution, and other parameters such as temperature, speed and layer thickness.
  • Finishing: Depending on the material and the quality of the print, further finishing processes such as sanding, painting or curing might be needed.
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