Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity has started work on five 3D printed, affordable single-family homes in its new Carter Place I community in Henrico County, Virginia. The project brings together Virginia Tech, Virginia Housing, the Henrico County Affordable Housing Trust Fund, Williamsburg Builder Consultants and the additive construction company HiveASMBLD.
The Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech used a $1.1 million Innovation Demonstration grant from Virginia Housing to buy a mobile Tvasta SIRA RC robotic arm concrete printer. The wall components are being printed in an off-site warehouse and will then be assembled on site. The partners plan to document what works, what it costs and where the limits of the technology are.
Why it matters to us: printing parts under a roof and putting them together on site is the same logic we use for our modular pieces, split into printable sections. A robotic arm, rather than a gantry, gives freedom of movement around the piece. And openly documenting costs and limits is exactly what the industry needs to move from demonstration to everyday practice.