It looks just like any other 3D printer – except it’s crane-shaped and is building a hotel in the Texan desert, layer by layer. El Cosmico, an existing hotel and campground on the outskirts of the town of Marfa, is expanding. It’s building 43 new hotel units and 18 residential homes on 40 acres (16 hectares) – all with a 3D printer.
El Cosmico owner Liz Lambert and the project’s partners — Austin, Texas-based 3D printing company ICON and architects Bjarke Ingels Group — say it’s the world’s first 3D-printed hotel.
Photo Credit: Reuters
Lambert said this technology allows for unprecedented creativity.
“Most hotels are within four walls and a lot of times you build the same unit over and over again,” Lambert said. “I’ve never been able to build with such little constraint and such fluidity … only curves, and domes, and parabolas. It’s a weird way to build.”
According to Lambert, these units can include architectural features that would be too costly to replicate at scale in traditional construction.
Photo Credit: Reuters
The first two units under construction have one-story, 12-foot (3.7-meter) high walls: a three-bedroom residential space and a single-room hotel unit.
The curved, beige walls are being created by ICON’s Vulcan, a 46.5-foot (14.2-meter) wide 3D printer that stands 15.5 feet (4.7 meters) tall and weighs 4.75 tons.
Photo Credit: Reuters
A print technician monitors Vulcan as its robotic arm and nozzle move across the work area on the gantry.
The “ink” of this 3D printer is a special cement-based material called Lavcrete, a proprietary blend designed for strength, economical scale and printability. ICON CEO and founder Jason Ballard said workers adjust and mix the material based on weather conditions.
“The magic is in the mixtures that allow us to continue printing,” Ballard said, adding that humidity, temperature and radiation affect the material’s behavior and even the final color.
ICON is also working on a neighborhood of 3D-printed homes near Austin.
Milad Bazli, a lecturer in science and technology at Australia’s Charles Darwin University, said that in the long term, 3D-printed manufacturing could displace the jobs of some skilled workers.
“I think from a social perspective and the impact on the economy in terms of local jobs, especially in remote areas, will be one of the challenges we have to consider before adopting 3D printing methods,” Bazley said.
The El Cosmico expansion is expected to be completed by 2026. Hotel units will cost between $200 and $450 per night.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
