ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque recently released building design plans available to the public for 3D printable homes, with a goal to help build more housing in the city. The plans for concrete 3D printable homes were released on the city’s website about a week ago. They were adapted from the city’s previously released free casita plans about a year ago for traditional construction.
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“We designed what was similar to what the city had before,” Nieto Custom Builders Project Coordinator Jesse Nieto said. “But the walls are thicker, it’s designed & tailored towards printing.”
There are four sizes in 12 different plan sets for the 3D printable models, from 450 square feet to 750 square feet. “It’s quick, it’s fast, it’s durable, weatherproof, stormproof, and fireproof,” Nieto said.
The pricing comes out to approximately $100,000 for the smallest plan with basic features, and can go up to $200,000 and above for certain features. “3D printed homes aren’t necessarily cheaper than traditional construction,” Nieto said. “It’s just a different method. Right now, we’re pricing these at $250 per square foot. But the advantage is it’s a lot quicker. Our turnaround time to build a house from the ground up is around four months.”
The casitas all have a kitchen, living room, and at least one bedroom and bathroom. Nieto said the construction process is similar to a regular build, and only the walls and counters are 3D printed. But the speed of the printing is unmatched, ranging from 2-4 months. “That’s the beauty of partnering with the city,” Nieto said. “These are all pre-approved, so anyone can pull them from the website, get a permit, and we can get it started.”
The City of Albuquerque Planning Department said that even though the price is comparable to building a traditional home, the 3D printable design can save people time and money. “They save a lot of money by not having to have an architect or contractor do the design for them, and then they save a lot of time as well by submitting that along with their site plan so it flies through our plan review process,” City of Albuquerque Planning Director Alan Varela said.
The city also said when builds go up quickly, it saves the homeowner money due to construction costs, and the speed avoids the risk of material costs going up during the process.
