3D-printed home costs $4000 and takes 24 hours to build

These concrete abodes have been designed to provide impoverished families with a home and to help communities seek shelter during the natural disaster.

According to a 2017 report by the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, 330 million households in cities globally – equivalent to 1.2 billion people – don’t have access to affordable and secure housing.

Non-profit charity, New Story, is on a mission to change this statistic.

The charity, which has built more than 850 homes for families in Haiti, El Salvador, Mexico and Bolivia, has now teamed up with tech construction company Icon to create the first 3D-printed homes for the developing world.

The 3D home will help end homelessness. Picture: Icon and New Story

The first home, which was unveiled in Austin earlier this month, was constructed using a giant 3D-printer dubbed ‘The Vulcan’.

The apparatus works by producing layers of a cement-like paste of mortar along a track that’s been digitally outlined for it to follow.

The entire process takes anywhere between 12 and 24 hours, and leaves behind the structure of a 55-75 square-metre home, complete with two bedrooms, lounge room and a bathroom.

The best part? The house costs less than $US4000.

The Vulcan layers mortar to form a home in less than 24 hours. Picture: Icon and New Story

See more: Stunning concrete house took just five months to build

Despite its advanced nature, The Vulcan is fully equipped to function in unpredictable climates, where water and power can be scarce.

From here, the two companies will work collaboratively to further improve and develop the printer, before taking the concept to El Salvador, where they plan to have built a community of the 3D homes by 2020.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to challenge traditional methods and work toward ending homelessness. Linear methods will never reach the billion plus people who need safe homes,” says Brett Hagler, CEO of New Story.

“By working with Icon and leveraging their 3D printing innovations, we’re able to reach more families with the best possible shelter solutions, exponentially faster.”