I want a Dome Home

[inotherwords]

I saw a picture of a small church in Greece that looks like it might be a lot more aesthetically pleasing yet still have the same benefits of the dome house.

Picture a home built of reinforced cinder block faced with stucco, with maybe eight straight up and down sides, as tall as maybe 12 feet. Maybe even more sides, or more height, depending on how big you want the house. In each flat side, you can put windows or doors, and of course each would have roll-down shutters. The roof would just be a simple half circle that sits atop this multi-sided base. All the light, just as with most "normal" homes, would come in through the windows and french doors.

Just as with the domes, you could have several of these structures on a lot, one as a guest house, one as a garage.

You could, if you wanted to, build decks or a lanai/pool cage off the structure, knowing that these might be destroyed in a hurricane. But the cost of replacement would be a lot less than a roof or a whole house blown in.

The little church looked really cute. It didn't have the doors and windows built into the sides, but I think this would be a natural thing to do. It was much more attractive than the dome houses, and I bet a lot easier to have built. It would be an easy concept to give an architect to get the interior space planned out. And you wouldn't have the drawback of those slanted walls to deal with.

[iceangel]

The Dome Home

http://www.monolithicdome.com/domenews/2004/ivan3.html

[CentralFloridaGal]

If they can make the neighborhoods like like the Shire in LOTR, I'm there!!

[Sanibel]

Looks like I got my answer. They cheated off a true dome on that top section by cutting away those openings for the deck and windows.


I suppose that open section faces away from the wind side on the south? If it faces the ocean that would explain the wind driven rain flooding of the interior...

[gpickett00]

the house might be able to survive any hurricane but windows cant sustain projectiles and the force of wind at a certain point.

[Sanibel]

Those look like hurricane windows. If they are partially enclosed by those flying concrete members the wind will turbulate before hitting the windows directly. That is why I was asking if that is the back side of the dome where winds would be passing over the top and not straight on...

There are probably not that many projectiles in an oceanside location...

[hiflyer]

Located in Stuart Florida...home of 2 landfall hurricanes this year....just finishing up construction and will be subject of PBS construction series...
http://www.safeharbordome.com/site.html

no damage from the storms lots of info and pix

[inotherwords]

I am sorry, and I hope nobody takes this criticism too personally, but I looked at this Stuart site quite extensively and I don't think this is a very attractive home from the exterior. I like the use of glass block inside, and thought the loft space was well done. The use of a lot of carpet seems not very Floridian to me, nor is there any real effort to blend the outside with the inside, which I feel is part of the joy of living in Florida. If those lanai/pool cage pieces blow away, it's not too expensive to put them back again, but a Florida house without indoor-outdoor merging isn't a Florida house, in my opinion. You might as well live anywhere.

I think this is a good example of what can be done to resist storm damage, but it's not quite where I'd like to see it, aesthetically. I know it's practical, but I also believe that with a little more work on the design, people could come up with structures that look as good as they work in storms. This is a noble first effort, but I think it falls short of the mark, at least as far as my own personal benchmark for design aesthetics. For example, why put a Victorian style door on a house like this? Why use carpet on the ground floor instead of a more Florida friendly material like bamboo flooring or tile or even terrazzo if you can afford it? If you're going to incorporate art deco elements (i.e. the glass block and sort of the railing to the balcony loft) then why not carry this through the rest of the house? It ends up being a mish-mash of styles instead of one consistent theme.

With regard to the Pensacola dome house, it's possible that the exposed doors and windows had roll-down shutters to protect them. I know that I'd go the extra mile to do this.

[Sanibel]

I agree. This house looks better from the inside than out. I believe most people would reconsider building one after seeing this link.

Perhaps construction costs drop because of the balloon form construction technique. It hints at innovative design but falls short due to its drab overall appearance and lack of external interface.


I think a larger dome that doesn't start at 90* at the base wall but rather starts at a shallower angle and incorporates structural highlights would be more attractive. This project shows us a small, unimproved simple dome looks like a big igloo and doesn't work aesthetically...



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[inotherwords]

What do you think about a design based on this: http://homepage.mac.com/retroactive/PhotoAlbum69.html

Not exactly, of course, but I think this concept has a lot of possibilities. I think it's lovely, too.

[Doc Seminole]

Well, they may not be all that attractive but then again, how attractive is Pensacola Beach right now.

[inotherwords]

The point is, DocSeminole, that I don't think one has to give up aesthetics for practicality. I'm all for practicality, but I'm one of those people who would be severely depressed if my house was ugly, or if I didn't have sufficient indoor/outdoor living space. The dome house just didn't cut it for me, I think it's possible to do better.

Lots of people aren't very concerned with aesthetics (I don't think many people who lives in a manufactured home would qualify for Architectural Digest), so I guess for those people the dome house would make sense.

[ZZ3Astro]

After the storms this year, I made some big changes to our plans for our next home.. It will definitely be ICF construction. The biggest problem I've found with ICF homes in general has been the use of a traditional shingle or metal roof. I found some companies that are installing poured in place concrete roofs. I guess it would be kind of like living under an overpass with walls. You basically end up with a traditional looking house that will handle pretty much anything you can throw at it.

I think the dome homes are a great idea but asthetically they just don't do it for me. I want to build in a typical neighborhood and not have my house stand out until the storm has been through.

[Sanibel]

I bet a concrete or cut stone house that was thick enough could take most of what a dome could. So we are really talking the difference between 100% protection and 90%.

I think this link shows that a well-constructed normal house is probably close enough without having to live in an oversized igloo...


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[iceangel]

the house might be able to survive any hurricane but windows cant sustain projectiles and the force of wind at a certain point.

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/new ... 892B.shtml

quote from the above article

Homes on the barrier island are certified to withstand winds of at least 140 mph and have at least 14 feet of flood elevation -- the dome home has 17 feet, and even its windows can fend off projectiles at 125 mph.

"And I don't have a roof to blow off, Sigler said."