Austin company is building 3D printed houses for less than $4,000

Austin-based company ICON is looking to make housing more universally accessible by 3-D printing homes. Austin-based company ICON is looking to make housing more universally accessible by 3-D printing homes. Photo: ICON Handout Photo: ICON Handout Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close Austin company is building 3D printed houses for less than $4,000 1 / 60 Back to Gallery

An Austin-based company is looking to change the homebuying market by making houses more universally accessible.

According to its website, ICON debuted the first permitted 3D printed home at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin on March 12, 2018, built using a prototype of a mobile printer that will have the ability to produce "a single-story, 600 to 800 square foot homes in under 24 hours for less than $4,000."

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The founders of the company partnered with New Story, a non-profit charity that works to transform slums into functional, sustainable communities, in an effort to address housing shortages around the world.

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According to The Verge, the prototype model has a living room, bedroom, bathroom and a porch.

"There are a few other companies that have printed homes and structures," co-founder Jason Ballar told the publication. "But they are printed in a warehouse, or they look like Yoda huts. For this venture to succeed, they have to be the best houses."

The company's plan is to finish tweaking and testing the design to get a community of up to 100 homes built in El Salvador in 2019.

Take a look through the gallery above to see photos of the model 3-D printed home.

Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli is a digital producer at Chron.com. You can read more of her stories here and follow her on twitter at @Dani_DiNapoli.

