Prefabrication experiments - 342 - House Zero by Icon with Lake / Flato architects

 

Construction is a production sector often labelled as resistant to change. True innovations are rare and difficult to integrate as the industry remains highly fragmented and largely represented by small businesses that produce a portion or fragment of finalized buildings on site in the same way they have been for decades. Certainly, materials and methods are adopted to make site building simpler, but by and large construction evolves sluggishly. The current era seems to be an exception to this rule as technology, the need to construct a significant amount of housing globally and labor shortages are driving the implementation of digital design, connected management tools and manufacturing methodologies like volumetric modular to update building construction. Digital technologies are disrupting the construction ecosystem from fabrication to production with completely new ways of making components and erecting buildings. 

 

Additive manufacturing or large-scale 3D printing is one of the approaches being described by many as the solution to construction's lagging productivity and the housing crisis. Lake / Flato architects have partnered with Icon (large scale 3D printer developer) to construct a mid-century modern inspired prototype to highlight these new potentials. The house is based on the pretty straightforward process of applying layer upon layer of concrete to shape thick bearing walls. Walls can be made to include windows, doors or any other architectural component. A timber conventional roof structure spans the bearing elements and curtain walls to complete the envelope. At the heart of this design is its production device; the Vulcan 3d printer, a large gantry crane secured to a mobile frame. A nozzle at the end of a pump is attached to the crane and a cement based concrete mixture is deposited in any direction and height limited only by the printer’s maximum travelling dimensions. The printer can be used to produce walls that are completed on site with more conventional construction methods. The Icon – Lake/Flato prototypes are inspired by midcentury modern aesthetic and aim to be affordable, however the streamlined use of large-scale 3d printing remains marginal and still a few years away from being an efficient response to the affordable dwelling needs. 

Houses Zero image and Icon 3D printer nozzle