Goleta has its first 3D printed affordable home. The Housing Trust Fund (HTF) is sponsoring the home on property located at 550 Cambridge Drive.
The 3D printed affordable home will be an entry-level one-story single-family home of approximately 1,400 square feet with a 400 square foot 2-car garage. The home will be printed using a start-of-the-art on-site robotic arm that has an internal stabilization system and can be easily set-up and moved around the site. The material for construction of the walls of the home will be reinforced concrete, with a structural integrity equivalent to concrete masonry construction. The construction materials for the home structure are fire resistant, climate resilient and natural.
The home will have a private patio and fenced play area for the residents, with the land behind the home a future gardening or farming area for Cambridge Drive Community Church. The home will include energy efficient systems and sustainability features, including a solar photovoltaic system and drought tolerant and/or edible landscaping.
The project will be 100% affordable and the home will be leased to a local housing provider who will operate and manage the home.
HTF will engage the community in the planning and design of the project through hosting a community presentation and through outreach to local schools, business and civic groups. The community will be invited to view the 3D printing of the home. The completed prototype 3D printed home will serve as a local and regional model for new housing technology that has the potential to save time and cost in constructing affordable housing and uses sustainable building materials.
The collaborative partners for this prototype home are the Cambridge Drive Community Church and Apis Cor a robotics engineering firm that was a NASA finalist to develop housing on Mars. Detty Peikert of RRM Design Group is the architect for the project. People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation is also providing technical assistance for the project in the areas of local approvals and project cost estimates.