A couple of years back, ICON made the news with the announcement that it would be building the world\u2019s first 3D printed community in Texas. Now, we can see the fruit of those efforts. It seems that the first buyers have started to move into the houses at Wolf Ranch, just north of Austin. The 100-home development was built using ICON\u2019s Vulcan robotic solutions, which are able to print a 2000-square-foot home in only about a week. And it seems the residents are appreciating their new homes. One couple was able to close on a 1,977-square-foot model for only $487,000, making their mortgage significantly lower than they had expected in the popular Texas city. The homeowners note that reasons for choosing this community including being at the forefront of a changing construction sector, noting as well that neighbors are already putting videos on TikTok as interest in the developments are high.<\/p>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/LB.gif\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![\"Wolf](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/wolf_ranch.jpg\")
Houses under construction at Wolf Ranch, ICON’s 3D printed community (photo credits: ICON)<\/p><\/div>\n
SPEE3D Enters West Africa<\/h3>\n
SPEE3D continues its rapid expansion. In most recent news, the company has announced a strategic partnership with RusselSmith, a leading integrated energy solutions provider focusing on sustainable, innovative technology solutions, to bring the company\u2019s cold spray AM to West Africa. The move seems to be connected especially with Nigeria\u2019s vibrant energy sector which has been struggling recently with supply chain issues and difficulties procury legacy parts. “SPEE3D is committed to the growth and development of additive manufacturing globally, and we’re thrilled to bring our cold spray additive manufacturing solution to West Africa,”<\/i> concludes Byron Kennedy, CEO of SPEE3D. “Partnering with RusselSmith is a huge win for us \u2013 they are a respected leader bringing the latest additive manufacturing technologies to the region and helping solve major supply chain issues for the oil and gas and defense and other commercial industries. Together, we will not only bring the WarpSPEE3D printer to the region, but their support as a value-added reseller will ensure customers will have the sales, support, and training they need for all of our technology.”\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n SPEE3D’s WARPSPEE3D 3D printer (photo credits: SPEE3D)<\/p><\/div>\n Recently, we told you about Saint-Gobain and its 3D-printed skate park<\/a> for the 2024 Olympic Games. It was inaugurated yesterday, at the Esplanade de la D\u00e9fense, and will be open to all skateboarders, able-bodied or disabled, until August 11. With a surface area of 400 m2, it has been designed like a giant pinball machine, with the various modules reminiscent of the \u201cobstacles\u201d that can be found in one. Aubry Ramillo, architect-designer and skateboarder, concludes: \u201cThanks to 3D concrete printing, we’ve been able to come up with an original skate park that adapts to all types of practice. Experienced skaters will be able to try out exclusive modules, while those discovering the sport for the first time will have no trouble learning and progressing. Wheelchair skaters, in particular, will also have a fully accessible playground, thanks to our collaboration with the Pratikable association, with whom we have worked to make our modules as inclusive as possible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Photo Credits: Tibo \u2013 Jackspots<\/p><\/div>\n The French Navy has approved the use of metal additive manufacturing technology developed by Meltio for real-life maneuvers. After several months of testing by the French Navy, the Spanish company’s 3D metal printer has proved its worth. The French Ministry of Defense has made this achievement public, underlining the effectiveness of the solution and confirming its ongoing validation. It also plans to include this technology in future real-life maneuvers, and is considering its possible incorporation on board its ships. Based on Concentrated Energy Deposition (CED) technology, the Meltio machine has once again demonstrated its potential in the defense sector, successfully passing various technological tests on hardware, materials and software worldwide.<\/p>\n Photo Credits: Meltio<\/p><\/div>\n The Polish SLS 3D printer manufacturer has raised $1.85 million in a share issue underwritten by existing shareholders. The proceeds will be used to increase investment to improve productivity on existing machines, develop the company’s marketing strategy and start manufacturing a new range of SLS machines. Albert Klein, CEO of Sinterit, comments: \u201cIn recent times, confidence in the future of 3D printer manufacturers has waned. We don’t share this sentiment and are grateful to our shareholders for their continued support. The market for additive manufacturing technology is consolidating. Integrated and affordable selective laser sintering systems will have their place in this market, as will Sinterit.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Sinterit’s range of 3D printing solutions (photo credits: Sinterit)<\/p><\/div>\n What do you think of the fact that homeowners are moving into ICON’s 3D printed community in Texas? Let us know in a comment below or on our <\/span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a> pages! Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly <\/span>newsletter here<\/span><\/a> for the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox! You can also find all our videos on our <\/span>YouTube<\/span><\/a> channel.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The aim of 3DExpress is to look back each week at some of the week’s news that we didn’t cover otherwise. Because there’s a lot going on in the 3D printing market! This week, learn more about the homebuyers who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6077,"featured_media":58808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6077"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58804"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58809,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58804\/revisions\/58809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/spee3D_warpspee3d.jpg\")
Saint-Gobain’s 3D-Printed Skate Park Opens<\/h3>\n
![\"skatepark](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3Dexpress_saintgobain.jpg\")
The French Navy Adopts Metal 3D Printing<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Meltio_FrenchNavy.jpg\")
Sinterit Announces Fundraising<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3Dexpress_sinterit.jpg\")