Victoria Roznowski has taken the top prize in the student category of ICON’s Initiative 99 competition with her innovative design, “Beyond.” The 260-square-foot 3D-printed home will be entirely fabricated for Austin’s Community First! Village, a development offering permanent housing to formerly homeless individuals, all under $99,000.
In Phase II of ICON’s Initiative 99 competition, finalists were required to refine their designs based on the village’s practical construction needs. While Roznowski’s design won first place in the student category, two from the open category were chosen for 3D printing in the extension at Village, which will begin early in 2025 and be financed with $500,000 from Wells Fargo.
Roznowski’s “Beyond” is a vision of dignified life for its residents; it represents a notion that 3D-printed homes can also be functional and visually appealing, raising the bar for affordable housing. In her design, she focuses on accessibility with features meant for individuals in different types of mobility-the wheelchair user, for example, but also someone with only minor physical limitations.
In this, the adaptable home living space enables each resident to put up his personal furniture arrangement and takes every advantage of cheap storage. And personal touch is added by having a planter or table to emphasize privacy on the porch railing.
The outside, enabled by ICON’s 3D printing, sports organically shaped walls that prove one thing: affordable housing need not be boring. A green roof enhances the structure, meshing nature with innovation as the plants spill over the edges.
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