Home In The Dome

[BrotherBart]

Not just for energy savings.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/mans-concrete-home-survives-raging-wildfire-washington/story?id=33286398

 

[tigger]

I saw this today. Crazy. I hope he got some neat pictures.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I guess the windows were susceptible to the heat ,but he could make some fireproof shutters for those. California need some house like this.

 

[peakbagger]

The Monolithic Dome Institute http://www.monolithic.org/institute is good site on modular dome homes and buildings. They are somewhat popular for tornado zones and they have built many churches and public buildings after the originals blew away. The standard design is a airproof fabric shell with foam sprayed inside the air supported structure then rebar mesh is hung from the foam. The mesh is then sprayed with gunite. The gunite (shotcrete the same stuff used for pools) once set will last through just about anything but the outer fabric and foam may get damaged. The biggest problem is that it is hard to make them fit into a conventional owners vision of beautiful. The interior layout and acoustics is also an issue, most furniture is square and some of the floor space is eaten up by the inward curving wall. Sound bounces around inside. The owners usually heat and cool them for very little. With some extra reinforcing they can be buried and then are completely fire proof.