economie

See what it’ll be like staying at a luxury 3D printed hotel in the West Texas desert

September 22, 20240
Marfa, Texas, is located about an hour’s drive from the Mexico border

halbergman/Getty Images

For one, it’s perched closer to the border of Mexico, an hour’s drive away, than the cluster of more urban Central Texas cities like San Antonio and Austin, which would take six times longer to reach.

And if you think Austin is “weird,” just wait until you see Marfa. The city of less than 2,000 people is known for its unique contemporary art (like a fake Prada store in the middle of the desert) and mysterious light sightings.

So it’s only fitting El Cosmico plans to expand with distinctive 3D printed hotel rooms built by construction-tech startup Icon.
Frequent Icon collaborator Bjarke Ingels Group designed the hotel rooms, shown in a rendering.

Icon

Icon began printing the hotel rooms designed by Bjarke Ingels Group in mid-September.

When completed in 2026, the 21-acre property will triple in size and grow to 97 accommodations, more than half of which will have Icon’s printed wall systems, a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider.

Travelers could book these neutral, dome-like hotel rooms, along with El Cosmico’s signature trailers and tents.

Guests would also have communal amenities like a printed restaurant, pool, and event spaces.
Construction 3D printers can easily produce curved walls like the ones in El Cosmico’s planned bathhouse, shown in a rendering.

Icon

Icon is using its robotic Vulcan printing system — which excretes its proprietary high-strength concrete “lavacrete” — for the project.

Along with the expanded hotel, the new El Cosmico will also include 15 printed homes starting at $2.29 million.
Icon’s 3D printing system is currently building 15 homes, as shown in a rendering.

Icon

The three- and four-bedroom homes would start at 2,000 square feet and have amenities like an outdoor shower and hot tub. Like Icon’s previous luxury home, the units would be supported by large, uniquely circular pillars.

The first home is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. The company’s spokesperson said it currently takes the startup one to two weeks to print the walls of a about 2,000-square-foot home.

“We think entirely new things are enabled by 3D printing,” Ballard said in 2023. “I think this project is going to be a great example of that.”