Hinton High School, left, and Avalon School, above, both in
Oklahoma, and built by Monolithic Domes, are steel-reinforced,
super-insulated concrete buildings that meet FEMA standards
for near-absolute protection from tornadoes and hurricanes.
Monlolithic Domes photos
raising. Accessories that complete the framing of the
dome are available. The most expensive is $9,800.
Standard packages are available for houses and garages. For example, a 45-foot-diameter Pioneer dome
package provides 1,466 square feet of living area on the
first floor and 572 usable square feet in a loft.
where the sanctuary typically is open.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
Three variations typify today’s options in construction components suitable for light construction applications:
• Wood panels, by Oregon Dome, Veneta, Ore., 800-572-
8943, www.domes.com
• Steel-reinforced, super-insulated concrete panels, by
American Ingenuity, Rockledge, Fla., 866-524-3663 or
321-639-8777 or www.aidomes.com.
• Concrete (shotcrete) applied on an inflated form, by
Monolithic Dome Institute, Italy, Texas, 972-483-7423
or www.monolithic.com.
For a more complete list of dome building manufacturers, visit www.thomasnet.com and search for dome.
(Editor’s Note: some links in thomasnet are broken.)
Oregon Dome publishes a list of prices, ranging from
$13,000 to $65,000. Prices typically include design and
the services of a factory specialist to supervise the dome
HOW BIG IS BIG ENOUGH?
Geodesic buildings typically are described by their diameter. For example, “ 30 ft 4 freq.” indicates a diameter of
30 feet and a height of 15 feet. The higher the frequency,
the more spherical would be the shape of the dome and
the smaller the triangles. An 8-foot triangle obviously is
easier for builders to handle than a 16-foot triangle. The
website ( www.goodkarmadomes.com/dome_basic.php)
for Good Karma domes has a detailed explanation with
illustrations.
After the geodesic building’s initial burst of popularity in the ‘70s, enthusiasm waned because its futurist
shape was, if anything, too striking for some tastes. Further, the unusual shape required adaptations that took
experience to work out.
Some typical questions, concerns and objections
raised in a conversation about dome construction and
dome living are discussed by online reference source
Wikipedia on its dome pages at http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Geodesic_dome.
Yet, many of the concerns are moot points or can be
