Black Buffalo 3D to Live Print First-of-Its-Kind House in Fort Worth, Texas | VoxelMatters

Black Buffalo 3D, a New Jersey-based construction 3D printing company, is preparing to 3D print a minimalist home design in Fort Worth, Texas on May 29-30. Notably, the company is turning construction into a live event, inviting people from the additive manufacturing and construction industries to witness its NEXCON 3D printing solution build a code-compliant home.

The structure itself was designed by Boxer Properties and is called “LoMa” (short for low maintenance). The design vision was to build a home that was both affordable in terms of construction and maintenance. Black Buffalo 3D’s ability to 3D print structural walls from proprietary cement inks is critical to achieving LoMa’s goal.

As Andrew Segal, founder of Boxer Properties, wrote on LinkedIn: “The future is houses printed in concrete using printers like those made by Black Buffalo. They should last 1000 years. Even abandoned, they should be able to be put back into service very quickly and at lower cost. It is essential that the roof is also made of concrete. An all-concrete home, free of any plaster products or lumber, becomes essentially fire-resistant, mold-resistant, wind-resistant, and essentially able to recover from flooding almost immediately.

Construction of the home will begin May 29 at a site in Southside Fort Worth. Notably, the structure will be the first in the world to incorporate 3D printed load-bearing walls approved by ICC-ES, a leader in providing technical assessments and certifications for code compliance. “The property was selected to make the home accessible on a corner lot to increase awareness of code-compliant 3D construction,” explains Black Buffalo 3D. “It will serve as a fully permitted, owner-occupied showcase for disaster recovery, preparedness and functional design.” In fact, the company revealed that once construction is complete, a number of event attendees will actually be able to stay in the 3D printed house.

Black Buffalo 3D’s NEXCON solution is a scalable 3D printing platform capable of printing structures up to three stories tall. The system is based on a modular gantry design that includes expandable tracks for adjustable build volume and a nozzle capable of printing at the OSHA recommended speed of 9.8 inches per second (approximately 250 mm/second) . According to the company, the NEXCON 3D printer can 3D print an entire 1,000 square foot build in less than 20 hours.

In addition to the upcoming 3D printed LoMa home, Black Buffalo 3D is also involved in a number of other construction 3D printing initiatives. In 2023, the company partnered with Innova Homes Limited in Trinidad and Tobago to 3D print a series of homes and train local students and construction workers in the use of 3D printing technology to large scale. The company also successfully 3D printed two homes in December 2023 as part of the Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg project in Newport News, Virginia. The homes are designed for low energy consumption and disaster resilience.