At 500 square feet, ICON’s stylish new structure was 3D-printed over the course of several days—but it only took 27 hours of labor to construct. The building will serve as a welcome center at Austin’s new Community First! Village—a 51-acre development that will provide affordable housing to men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. ICON says that they can be built at significantly less cost than conventional homes.
“ICON is pushing the envelope and is technologically laying out a new way of looking at how we build homes,” says Alan Graham, founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, the nonprofit behind the Community First! Village. Graham’s hope is that ICON will be able to print an entire neighborhood capable of housing roughly 40% of Austin’s homeless population.
Industry West knows the healing power and impact of a thoughtful space. “This worldview of giving back is why we often work with nonprofits to provide free or discounted furnishings,” says Anne England, who cofounded the company with her husband, Jordan. Their touch is personal, as they hand select the company’s inventory.