Construction company, Alquist 3D, was approached by the Mayor of Pulaski in Virginia to construct 3D printed homes in the town. The idea has now grown into the largest 3D printed project in the world, Business Insider reported.  

3D printing could be the answer to building human-friendly habitats on Mars in the future, but the technology is already helping us build habitats on Earth. Last year, we reported how a military base in Texas was using the technology to build barracks for its trainee troops, and the state was also set to become home to a street of 3D printed homes. 

Now, a small town of Pulaski in the south-eastern state of Virginia is set to become home to 200 such houses built over the next five years using the time and labor-saving technique that involves a massive 19-ton robotic printer. 

If Alquist 3D sounds familiar, that’s because it is the same company that 3D printed a three-bedroom 1,200 square feet (111.5 m²) home just in time for Christmas last year. Now, the construction company has set its eyes on a much bigger and more ambitious project to build the exterior structures using only concrete. 

The method of construction will essentially be the same. The model of the house will first be constructed using a computer program. Then a 19-ton Nexcon 3D printer from Black Buffalo 3D will extrude the concrete out of its nozzle and arrange it in layers till the construction is completed. 

With 200 houses planned for the Virginia Project, as it is called, Alquist is looking at at least four house designs with a finished costing no more than $350,000; the company told Freethink.

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