See inside a luxury 350-square-foot 3D-printed tiny home in Austin

Tiny homes may be, well, small, compared to the typical home, but the market for downsized living is almost as hot as that of the housing market.

Tiny living has skyrocketed in popularity over the past several years, leaving tiny home makers with long waitlists and potential consumers with months of waiting.

Source: Insider

And supply chain constraints compounded with rising material and labor costs haven’t helped companies build any faster or cheaper.

Source: CNBC

 

But Austin, Texas-based 3D printing construction company Icon may have the solution to all of our big tiny home problems.

Enthusiasts of 3D printed homes say the technology can build houses faster yet more sustainability and inexpensively compared to traditional construction methods. And Icon has put this to the test with its latest project.

Printed tiny homes are quietly growing in global popularity and can now be seen in countries like Canada and Japan.

Source: Insider, The Spaces

But you won’t have to travel internationally to see this new tiny home: Icon’s latest property is located right in the heart of Austin, Texas.

In March, the construction technology company unveiled the 3D printed House Zero, an over 2,000-square-foot three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home …

… with an adjacent 350-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom accessory dwelling unit (ADU).

ADUs — which are essentially detached backyard rooms — have become increasingly sought after among homeowners, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when remote workers started using ADUs as backyard offices.

Source: The New York Times, Insider

 

So it’s no surprise Icon has given House Zero a smaller ADU companion, which was printed at the same time as the main home using the company’s large in-house Vulcan printer system and “high strength” concrete, called ‘lavacrete.”

The walls of the luxury home and its tiny dwelling were printed at the same time in eight days despite weather and hardware issues, reducing the construction timeline by weeks to months compared to “traditional” methods.

To even the most oblivious eye, the House Zero property looks obviously 3D printed, or at least, different from your typical home.

The exposed grey walls — visible from both inside and outside the home and its ADU — look like perfectly piped icing, making the property stand out from its neighbors.

Let’s take a closer look at the tiny home ADU, a perfect dwelling for a visiting guest.

The backyard building’s layout looks like that of any tiny home on the market.

It’s open concept by nature — how else would you fit everything inside a 350-square-foot space — and has all the basics of a studio apartment like a bed, kitchen, and bathroom.

The bedroom space is right next to the kitchen.

And the bathroom is just past the kitchen and around the corner.

The first space you see when you unlock and open the doors of the ADU is the bedroom …

… which has a console, television, large floor-to-ceiling windows, and a custom Murphy bed.

The kitchen is just a few feet from the bed, unsurprising given the size of the ADU.

Here, you’ll find basics like a sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, two-burner stovetop, and storage. The space may be small, but the kitchen countertop was long, making the small cooking space feel spacious.

Around the corner, you’ll find the closet and the bathroom entrance.

The bathroom was large for a 350-square-foot dwelling.

Like the primary bathroom in the larger House Zero home, the bathroom in the ADU has beautifully curved walls made possible by the 3D printing system.

This curved wall turns a shower into a cave-like sanctuary and looks vastly more stylish than the typical shower enclosed in glass and ceramic tiled walls.

This wall alone made the bathroom of all places feel like the most eye-catching and sophisticated “room” in the tiny home.

Shower aside, the room had all the necessities of a bathroom inside a typical home and felt both large and well decorated.

Overall, despite its small size, the ADU felt like a luxurious getaway from the main house.

The unit’s clean lines, furniture, and decor made the 350-square-foot box feel like a bougie boutique hotel site.

Its walls may have been cold and grey, but the contrasting warm furniture and bright natural light made the ADU feel warm and welcoming.

It may have been smaller than most homes, but the layout and large windows made the ADU feel more spacious than some dark and damp New York City apartments.

And the Murphy bed creates a flexible space, allowing the ADU to be used as a guest bedroom, backyard office, or studio space.

This isn’t Icon’s first foray into the tiny home space. In 2020, Icon printed and built a series of 400-square-foot homes for Austin residents who don’t have homes.

Source: Icon

But unlike those previous little living units, House Zero was the first home designed just for robotic construction as a way to flex Icon’s technology, Jason Ballard, Icon’s cofounder and CEO, told Insider in an interview.

Source: Insider

And with the help of the company’s printing system, Icon has now ushered in a new contender in the quickly growing 3D printed tiny home segment.