The first-ever house in Florida to be built with 3-D printing technology now sits in Tallahassee's Griffin Heights neighborhood. A ribbon cutting for the unique residence took place on October 14.
The outside and inside walls of the just-over-1,400-square-foot structure were built up in layers of concrete, laid down by a computer-controlled extrusion head mounted on a large gantry. It's a construction that Kyndra Light, co-owner of Precision Building and Renovating, explained is incredibly durable.
"Right now you're looking at 13 inches of solid steel and concrete. It's a bunker!" she chuckled.
She added it's also 20% cheaper than traditional building methods. That had City Commissioner Curtis Richardson thinking about more affordable housing in challenged neighborhoods. Like Griffin Heights.
"This is another tool in the toolbox, and we really appreciate them bringing it to Tallahassee and this neighborhood in particular, which is a traditional African American neighborhood that is in dire need of this kind of infusion of new housing stock."
On the drawing board is a mini-neighborhood of maybe 20 3-D printed houses to further drive down the cost of construction through economies of scale.
