Icon is working with Marfa, Texas-based "glamp" site El Cosmico to 3D print luxury camping units.
The new El Cosmico property will also have a 3D-printed spa, pool, communal facilities, and homes.
Icon's CEO Jason Ballard says these designs would be "almost impossible" to execute without a printer.
You could end up vacationing inside a 3D-printed structure during your next trip to Texas.
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Marfa, Texas-based El Cosmico currently operates a glamping — a portmanteau of "glamorous" and "camping" — site with unique accommodations like yurts, trailers, and tiny homes.
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But next year, the hospitality destination will shake up the luxury camping industry by breaking ground on its newest set of accommodations: about 75 to 100 3D-printed rooms, giving travelers the chance to vacation inside a printed tiny home.
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These structures — along with the property's new pool, spa, communal facilities, and nearby homes — will be built by 3D printing construction-tech startup Icon.
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The Austin, Texas-based company has already made a splash in the nascent but rapidly growing 3D printing industry.
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In early 2022, Icon unveiled a 2,000-square-foot luxury printed home in Austin, Texas.
And in early 2024, it'll begin 3D-printing El Cosmico's expansion with design help from BIG.
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El Cosmico's current glamping accommodations are sprawled across a 21-acre plot of land.
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When Icon begins its work on the property, these accommodations will be moved to a 65-acre extension where the new hotel "rooms" and facilities will be printed …
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… while the previous 21 acres will be populated by approximately 30 to 50 new printed affordable houses spanning up to 2,200 square-feet, Jason Ballard, the CEO and cofounder of Icon, told Insider.
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The walls of the smaller glamping units could take around four to eight days to print while the larger homes could take around two weeks, dramatically cutting the time it takes to build such structures.
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Neither the homes nor printed hotel rooms will look anything like traditional buildings.
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The new structures be printed with slopes, arches, domes, and vaults to create a uniquely organic design.
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According to Ballard, it would be "almost impossible" to build these curved structures without a 3D printer "unless you wanted 10-times the budget."
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"We think entirely new [designs] are enabled by 3D printing," Ballard said. "I think this project is going to be a great example of that."
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This diverse project will be Icon's first time building a pool, spa, and the property's list of communal facilities. The latter will include structures like a shower house, restaurant, and event space.
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To complete this work, Icon will deploy five of its Vulcan printer systems.
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These printers will then excrete its proprietary "high strength" concrete, known as "lavacrete."
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We're still over a year from seeing the final property in all of its printed glory.
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But as a teaser, Icon will unveil what it says is the world's first performance pavilion at this year's South by Southwest Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas. This pavilion will look similar to the structures we can expect to see at El Cosmico.
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Details like pricing are still in the works, but Liz Lambert — the brainpower behind El Cosmico — notes that the property will continue its tradition of accommodating guests with a "wide range of budgets."
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"We can have a beautiful dignified world even out in West Texas," Ballard said.
