JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local engineering group is working to create tiny homes for workers in need, homeless people, and adults coming from foster families, all being built almost completely by robots.
Golem Engineering built a robot to 3D print homes. The company says it can be done in a matter of hours. Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin got a tour of the company’s facility in the Mixon Town neighborhood after it had printed the walls of a tiny home in only 15 hours.
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“These are the kinds of homes that will last forever,” said Kathryn McAvoy, founding partner of Golem Engineering. “You’ll be able to pass these down through generations.”
McAvoy says the company’s robot funnels concrete through a hose to print its homes based on a computer blueprint. It says the robot, alone, could print two tiny homes a month. McAvoy says the homes might not be brick and mortar, so to speak, but they’re made to last.
“These aren’t getting blown away into a hurricane, to bring them down would be like trying to take down the pyramids, they’re made of stone,” said McAvoy.
Even though the company is bold about the homes themselves, they say the reason behind them is just as strong.
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“This will be a great solution for affordable housing. We want to give people an opportunity to own their own home, and this will do that,” McAvoy said.
Golem Engineering says it’s working with the city to create villages of tiny homes in and around downtown Jacksonville. McAvoy says the company saw a need for more low-cost housing around the city and it sees 3D-printed homes as the way to do it.
The company is working to bring another company from the U.K., Global Nexus, to create a headquarters in Jacksonville to help with its initiative of connecting people who are unhoused and workers struggling to afford homes with the communities it’s trying to build.
“We don’t want to be working out in the middle of nowhere, people need to be in the city to get to work and for transportation,” said McAvoy.
McAvoy says the company is aiming to power the homes with solar power and turn the roofs into makeshift gardens that neighbors can cultivate themselves. It also hopes to fit each community with services to help neighbors get connected to job opportunities.
“We can build a really healthy community for those who are unhoused or close to it,” McAvoy said.
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Golem Engineering says it’s still looking for where it will begin building the tiny homes, but it hopes to start as soon as next year. The company is looking for land to build on in and around downtown.
To learn more about the company, you can click the link here.
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