‘Dome home’ makes a comeback

One of the strongest and most efficient construction designs is the dome.  Dome structures like the Pantheon in Rome (a temple dedicated to all the gods and rebuilt by Hadrian), have survived for many centuries, while other buildings around them have crumbled. 

Modern architecture has avoided the dome, but it is making a comeback thanks in part to production techniques developed in the United States. From Vermillion, in the US state of South Dakota, Greg Flakus reports for Voice of America (VOA) that wood-frame homes with standard roofs are the norm in this Midwestern college town, but there is an odd new addition. On a tree-lined street only a few blocks from the University of South Dakota campus there is a three-dome home made mostly of concrete. It was designed and built by Kevin Meylor for his parents.

Mr Meylor used drawings and information developed by the Monolithic Dome Institute in Italy, Texas (south of Dallas), where a number of domed buildings and residences can be seen from the interstate highway. He says his dome house is impervious to termites and other common problems faced by wood-framed structures. The aerodynamic dome is also safe from tornadoes that often hit this part of the country. Another advantage cited by Mr Meylor is energy efficiency. Dome houses use anywhere from 50 to 75 per cent less energy for heating and cooling than similar-sized traditional houses.

Construction method

Construction of a dome home begins with a round-shaped fabric tent which is inflated to provide the basic shape. Workers then spray the inside with polyurethane foam, which hardens the shell and also provides insulation. The crew then attaches rebar (a steel bar or rod used to reinforce concrete) to provide more structural integrity; and finally they spray over that with a special cement mixture. The interior can be painted and decorated.

In India

Mr South has also been involved in some projects for homes and offices in India, where these structures have become quite popular. In January 2002, the Indian subsidiary of an American company, Catalytic Software, moved into New Oroville, Catalytic’s township of dome-shaped dwellings near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. The US company eventually plans to build an entire city of domes on 500 acres (202 hectares). The dome architecture was chosen for cost and convenience—each concrete shell, it was stated, takes barely five days to construct.

The first modern monolithic dome structure was built in the US state of Utah and opened in 1963 as an ice skating rink. Called ‘Ream’s Turtle’ after its 1969 conversion into a general store by the new owner Paul Ream, the building stood until it was demolished in 2006 to make way for new construction.

Monolithic domes have survived major disasters in recent years in the United States and elsewhere. Several of these domes in the eastern US state of Florida survived direct hits by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Earlier, in 2003, a monolithic dome mosque in Iraq survived a direct hit by a 5,000 lb bomb. The interior of the structure was totally destroyed, but the dome itself remained standing. Several monolithic domes were in the path of the 2005 and 2006 wildfires in the US states of Oklahoma and Texas, but they survived with only slight charring of the exterior foam insulation.