Living in the Round: Geodesic Home Design

If you've taken a drive outside the city limits in the last few years, you've seen the mini-mansions dividing and multiplying. You've seen the smug professionals puttering in their chemical-saturated yards, or stepping onto their front porches to survey their domain. After getting a satisfactory whiff of the asphalt fumes radiating from their driveway, they retreat to their air-conditioned, suburban castles.

That will never be you. You're an individual, in love with your community and looking for something, well, more than a flimsy, beautiful box squatting amid other flimsy, beautiful boxes. You're ready to build a home that's in step with your values, yet easy on your pocketbook.

Maybe it's time to consider a geodesic home. Once considered "fringe" or "specialty" dwellings, dome homes are growing in popularity. The basic shape of the Taj Mahal, St. Peter''s cathedral and Disney World''s Epcot Center can now be found dotting residential neighborhoods and woodland retreats across the country.

First promoted in America by philosopher and mathematician R. Buckminster Fuller during the early 1950s, geodesic domes were hailed as the housing of the future. Fuller hoped that these highly efficient structures would one day solve housing crises throughout the world. Today, despite the country's booming economy, an increasing number of Americans are eager to conserve resources, reconnect with their environment and simplify their lives. Those with fixed incomes are seeking ways to spend less and get more.

Joe Frawley, founder of Energy Structures, Inc. (a manufacturer of super-insulated dome kits) and a contributing writer for Domes Magazine, reports that business is booming. "For years, geodesic domes were the best-kept secret in the world," he says. The Internet has attracted customers from around the world, and his family-owned company is scrambling to meet the demand. Frawley has recently filled orders from South Africa, Indonesia and Ireland.

The Basics

Geodesic structures are comprised of a network of triangles that form a surface nearly spherical in appearance. The term "geodesic" comes from the Latin, meaning "earth-dividing." Built from the ground up, a dome home resembles a sphere split in half by the earth.

Domes maximize space and resources because they have the highest ratio of enclosed area to external surface area. The walls and roof of a dome home are one and the same; it is a self-supporting structure that requires no internal load-bearing walls. The geodesic home''s unique shape stretches your dollar in several ways, from the earliest stages of construction through a lifetime of occupancy.

Building Cost

First, domes are frequently cheaper to build, using fewer materials and less labor. Although in the past geodesic designs have had a decidedly "specialty" or "niche" appeal, they really don''t require any exotic materials to build. The only specialized tools used in dome construction are the forms that create the network of triangles. Whether you hire a contractor or choose to do it yourself, the roof of a dome may be more labor-intensive, making it more expensive than a conventional roof.

However, the labor cost is offset by the fact that the geodesic home''s roof and exterior walls are basically one and the same; you'll save a considerable amount over a traditional box home because far less siding, if any, is required. A 1,500-square-foot geodesic home with a 23-foot ceiling in the living room requires approximately 20 percent less material to build than a typical box home with the same square footage and 8-foot flat ceilings throughout. A modest dome home typically costs $10 less per square foot than its conventional, boxy counterpart.

Energy Savings

After a dome home is constructed, it continues to surpass a traditional box home in heating and cooling costs. Its spherical design allows air to flow naturally throughout the dome cavity-there are fewer corners to trap heat. It is easier to maintain an even temperature throughout the home, making a dome more comfortable year-round. This drastically reduces your energy bill: Dome dwellers will typically pay 30 to 50 percent less every month.

Joe Frawley notes that in the past, dome-kit manufacturers failed to recognize the special ventilation needs of geodesic structures; although the dome design facilitates even air flow, this doesn't necessarily mean that domes are well-ventilated. The attics in typical rectangular or square homes include vents and cupolas that allow air to escape. Many dome homes built in the last few decades didn''t have ventilated attics, and air would get trapped inside the dome cavity, causing moisture damage. This happens most frequently in domes built in muggy or coastal areas.

"We''re the only company that uses a power ventilator [that gives] moisture a chance to escape," says Frawley. This power ventilator works like and resembles vents and cupolas found on conventional homes. Courtesy The Green Culture

Getting it Built

Step One: Choosing a Design

The building process for a geodesic home varies little from that of a conventional home. However, you may need to spend more time considering the unique design elements of a dome, and how to adapt them to your needs. Because the interior walls of a dome aren't load-bearing and therefore aren''t structurally necessary, you're free to divide interior spaces any way you fancy. Do you envision your home's common areas as a sweeping expanse flooded with natural light? Would you like some cozy nooks for reading or intimate soirees? Perhaps you'd like a loft that overlooks a central family room. What about a finished or unfinished basement? Or an attached garage or greenhouse? Your options are virtually endless.

At first, all this freedom may be overwhelming. Although you''re sold on the advantages of dome living, it can be hard to imagine how to utilize space in a spherical structure. All of a sudden, hallways are considered "wasted space" and traditional, rectangular picture windows are simply unnecessary.

Dome companies offer a variety of stock dome plans, any one of which may perfectly match your needs. If you''d like to make modifications, companies such as Geodesic Domes & Homes and Energy Structures, Inc., can help you customize an existing plan.

Step Two: Financing

You may need to plan ahead to obtain financing for a geodesic home, since many lending institutions still see domes as "specialty" or "unusual" structures. Though the kits manufactured by Geodesic Domes & Homes and Energy Structures, Inc., are FHA/VA approved, you may have to consult with more than one lender to secure financing. Dome manufacturers can refer you to "dome-friendly" lenders in your area.

Step Three: The Building Process

Die-hard "do-it-yourselfers" may embrace a dome home because they can build an exceptionally sturdy, efficient shelter with a minimum of professional involvement. Even if you''re hardly a hands-on type, a reputable contractor can take care of the initial sheetrocking and foundation-filling. Then, with a little professional guidance and a bevy of enthusiastic friends and family members, you can raise your dome home in a weekend.

According to Larry Knackstedt, owner of Geodesic Domes & Homes, 80 percent of his kits are sold to do-it-yourselfers. Despite the obvious economic advantages, dome dwellers also derive a sense of satisfaction from building their own home. Like an Amish barn-raising, building a dome unites friends and family and may even help to create a sense of community. Having a tangible investment in your living space makes it more your own, and contributes to a sense of stability; it's not surprising that an increasing number of Knackstedt's customers build geodesic homes as permanent residences not planned for resale.

The Dome Lifestyle

Pragmatic considerations of economic and energy efficiency aside, geodesic domes have an unmistakable aesthetic appeal -- part bohemian, part futuristic. Inside, their decor can run the gamut from tastefully traditional to starkly avant-garde. Whatever your aesthetic sensibilities may be, a dome home's geometric symmetry creates a feeling of unity and wholeness that''s hard to find in a contemporary, cookie-cutter tract home.

A dome's soaring ceilings and open common areas are wonderful for bringing your family together, but what about privacy? Interior partitions may be framed directly into the dome cavity to form conventional walls, or they may be free-standing space divisions, such as half-walls, peninsulas or even folding screens. In this way, your family's privacy can be maintained without sacrificing the dome''s even distribution of light, heat and sound.

Still, dome-dwelling isn't for everyone. "I wouldn't recommend [a geodesic dome] to a person looking to impress his neighbors," says Knackstedt. A geodesic home will undoubtedly impress many passersby, and has a special curb appeal, but many homeowners may find it hard to relinquish their need to keep up with the Joneses. Joe Frawley agrees: "A [dome home] is for builders who are dissatisfied with common design."

If you long to live gracefully, reconnect with your surroundings, and get more for less, you just might become a devotee of geodesic design . . . and just might inspire the Joneses' envy.