Introduction to 3D Printed Houses

The fundamental way most homes are built in America — the labor-intensive process of constructing conventional wood framing on site — hasn’t changed much for more than a century, even though more industrial methods and technologies have long held the potential to be faster, cheaper or more reliable. In Sweden, for instance, 90% of single-family homes are prefabricated — entire buildings, or large portions, constructed in a factory for efficiency and then assembled quickly on site, said Ryan E. Smith, director of the School of Architecture at the University of Arizona and founding partner at Mod X, a prefab construction consultancy. Meanwhile, prefab construction represented just 3% of single-family homes in the U.S. in 2023, according to the National Assn. of Homebuilders.

The Need for Change

But the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, said Smith and others, could be a tipping point. The region needs to rebuild more than 16,000 buildings — not to mention thousands of temporary structures for people to live in before then — in a market already weighed down by bureaucratic hurdles, limited labor and high materials costs. What was once considered “alternative” or “unconventional” may become standard, whether we’re ready or not. About 200 of an estimated 2,000 homes destroyed in the 2023 Maui wildfires have already been rebuilt using prefabrication, said Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute, a nonprofit trade association.

The Pain of Change

“When the pain of changing is less than the pain of staying the same, then people start looking into doing something different,” Smith said. Although he pointed out several reasons why prefab has yet to take off, he sees change as inevitable, not only because of the fires but also due to the nation’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. “I’m 49 and have 20-something kids. They’ve told me point-blank, ‘I’m not going to be able to buy a house where I live.’”

3D-Printed Construction

Azure creates 3D-printed modules with a composite mixture of fiberglass and recycled plastic bottles. The company’s X series has been approved for use as temporary housing for those who lost their homes in the fires. Believe it or not, one option for rebuilding is 3D-printed construction: employing large-scale industrial printers to layer building materials like concrete (usually on the home site) or composites (usually in a factory) into walls and other structural components. Labor can be less costly, engineering can be more precise and construction can be faster. But it’s not what most homeowners are used to, and the novelty also can mean local officials might be slower to issue approvals. Although companies profiled for this story said they do meet current building standards, L.A. County’s Bodek said she was not aware of whether this kind of construction met seismic or fire codes.

Azure’s Approach

At its Gardena factory, L.A.-based Azure creates modules with a composite mixture of fiberglass and recycled plastic bottles, a method that founder Gene Eidelman said was more sustainable and less expensive than concrete. The shells, which are watertight and surprisingly sturdy, usually can be completed for a project in 24 hours. Workers then install insulation, cabinetry, electrical, plumbing and more, usually in about 12 to 15 days. For fire zones, the company is adding fire-rated panels to its modules’ exteriors while it works to make the composite formula itself more fire resistant, Eidelman said.

Container-Based Construction

An Ark Modular Container Homes unit delivered to a site in Malibu has one end fitted with a glass slider and small fixed windows at the other end to let in light. Joshua Clark, chief executive of Ark Container Homes, started his business modifying steel shipping containers into livable spaces after losing two homes to natural disasters — a landslide in Malibu and a hurricane in Louisiana. “I want something that lasts centuries. I got sick of seeing people lose it all,” Clark said. His 20- or 40-foot container homes, which cost $20,000 and $39,000 respectively, are designed to merge the imperviousness of a steel shell (and a welded sheet metal floor liner) with a rustic interior made of cypress and Douglas fir walls and cabinetry.

Ark Container Homes

The containers, which are finished in Louisiana, can be shipped anywhere in the country. A client in Malibu is living in one, Clark said. The units have no windows except for a glass door and windows at one end of the box, which can be sealed up via the steel container door. “As soon as you carve into a cargo container, you compromise the structural integrity,” Clark said. He added: “These disasters are not gonna stop. They’re gonna keep coming at us.”

Panelized Construction

The firm SuperLA uses prefabricated components to create flexible modern home designs. An easier idea for homeowners, builders and code-enforcement officials to digest is panelized construction, which consists of fabricating walls, floors and roof panels in a factory, shipping them to a home site and assembling them there. Local company SuperLA, which had focused on multifamily housing like the Bungalows on Marathon apartments in Silver Lake before the fires, recently pivoted to single-family prefabs to meet the new demand. Founder Aaron van Schaik said he already has started site studies with two families and is talking with more than 10 more.

SuperLA’s Approach

Working from a set “product” design, SuperLA’s team assembles prefabricated components to create light, airy environments that are all electric (no gas appliances) and surrounded by native landscaping. Van Schaik said he chose panelized construction because transport is easier and because lenders and insurers have fewer questions, but he said the core benefit is actually design flexibility. “We are not constrained in a system,” he said. “This allows us to focus on the occupants’ experience as the first priority.” The cost of a three-bedroom, 1,750-square-foot home is slightly more than $500 per square foot, the company said, not including auxiliary costs like foundations and utility hookups.

Modular Construction

The company Cassette has developed modular homes called Jollies, designed by Oonagh Ryan Architects, which are wrapped in fiber-cement panels and rated for wildfire zones. The company says it has signed contracts with two customers in the fire zones. The most economical — and popular — prefab system remains modular construction, in which three-dimensional sections of a home are constructed in a factory. These “volumetric” components — rooms that often include built-in electrical, plumbing and cabinetry — are then transported to the site and assembled like building blocks using cranes.

Modular Homes

Samara, a builder of modular homes and ADUs launched by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, recently partnered with Rick Caruso’s Steadfast LA to build close to 100 homes (worth about $15 million) for low- to moderate-income residents affected by the recent fires. But there are many other companies in this space — some already busy in the fire zones. Santa Monica-based Plant Prefab builds about two-thirds of its homes, ADUs and multifamily buildings employing modular construction, according to owner Steve Glenn.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the devastating fires in L.A.’s fire zones have created a need for new forms of construction. 3D-printed houses, container-based construction, panelized construction, and modular construction are some of the techniques that could play a role in rebuilding L.A. and solving the housing crisis. These techniques offer faster, cheaper, and more reliable construction methods that can help address the nation’s housing shortage and affordability crisis.

FAQs

Q: What is 3D-printed construction?
A: 3D-printed construction is a method of building that uses large-scale industrial printers to layer building materials like concrete or composites into walls and other structural components.
Q: What is container-based construction?
A: Container-based construction is a method of building that uses steel shipping containers as the primary structure for a home.
Q: What is panelized construction?
A: Panelized construction is a method of building that consists of fabricating walls, floors and roof panels in a factory, shipping them to a home site and assembling them there.
Q: What is modular construction?
A: Modular construction is a method of building in which three-dimensional sections of a home are constructed in a factory and then transported to the site and assembled like building blocks using cranes.
Q: How can these techniques help address the housing crisis?
A: These techniques offer faster, cheaper, and more reliable construction methods that can help address the nation’s housing shortage and affordability crisis by providing more efficient and cost-effective ways to build homes.