Black Buffalo 3D has broken ground in Fort Worth’s Southside community with its pilot LoMa 3D-printed home at 100 W. Bolt St. The first of its kind in the world, the LoMa home utilizes technology that makes it the first International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES)-approved home to use load-bearing 3D-printed walls.
“We are excited to be printing a home in a densely populated area that will provide more people with an opportunity to witness the future of construction. This home will showcase the benefits of structural 3D construction including efficiency, low cost of ownership, and the ability to withstand natural and manmade disasters,” remarked Mike Miceli, CEO of Black Buffalo 3D.
Dubbed “LoMa” for its low-maintenance nature, the home was designed in partnership with Boxer Property to showcase the ease of the immediate construction process as well as future maintenance and upkeep. Once the walls are printed with proprietary Planitop 3D “ink,” three and a half times stronger than traditional concrete, electrical and plumbing fixtures will be mounted on the interior of the walls for ease of repairs, should they arise in the future.
Creating this magic is Black Buffalo’s NEXCON Printer. The NEXCON Printer is a modular printing system that, upon set up, can print the walls of a 40-foot by 40-foot home in under 30 hours. Only requiring four people to set up the Printer, the NEXCON was designed to undertake a variety of types of builds, from smaller format homes to completely customizable homes, industrial buildings, and retail structures. With the help of a guided rail system, the printer’s range can be expanded to spread over multiple plots. Once the printing process begins, the NEXCON requires three to four workers to monitor the mostly automated process.
Every Black Buffalo 3D home is printed and designed with the highest level of inclement weather resiliency in mind. The flexibility of use with the NEXCON Printer allows for a wide range of possible projects including residential housing, commercial, retail, industrial facilities, retaining walls, disaster relief, and across multiple military applications facilities.
As part of its plan to promote the 3D printing industry, Black Buffalo 3D has made its NEXCON Printer available for sale and/or lease along with the sale of its Planitop 3D “concrete ink.” Black Buffalo 3D is eager to share its knowledge around the 3D printing process and is offering its team’s expertise and assistance to any and all 3D printing projects.
