Regolith House
Plume Design Lab: Kory Bieg, AIA, and Clay Odom
“It’s one of the most convincing arguments I’ve seen for the potential of 3D printing as a viable tool for the production of small buildings. The logic driving the plan organization and layout is quite compelling as it groups large spaces [and] compartmentalizes smaller, intimate spaces in the home.”
— Keith Krumwiede
Small-scale, affordable housing should be as ambitious as our cities’ biggest buildings. Regolith House uses technology developed by the 3D concrete-printing company ICON to construct spaces that support individuals and families, encourage community, and reflect environmental sustainability. The proposal offers a new set of wall types, conceived as line types, that introduce variation to support additional uses and privacy while removing interior doors and partitions. Maximizing ICON’s print envelope, four 450-sf living units are printed at a time, using simple building systems and prefabricated assemblies made of standard building materials. The basic unit plan is organized around a prefabricated kitchen insert with shared plumbing that can be rotated 90 degrees to convert two small units into a single three-bedroom unit.