How Much Does A Monolithic Dome Cost?

There is so much variety in sizes, shapes, and uses of the Monolithic Dome that developing a general price sheet is impossible. Even within a single category such as homes, costs can vary drastically. A small, one bedroom home may cost only $45,000 where a three bedroom home, complete with chandeliers and gold plated faucets, could cost $500,000. What you put in your home is as important to its cost as whether you build a dome or a conventional structure. In an effort give a general idea of how much domes usually cost we have compiled the following guidelines. But just like your home, one size does not fit all. Click here to read more about the True Cost of a Dome Home.

Homes: The Monolithic Dome is built using expensive materials. The insulation costs three to ten times more than standard insulation. The primary structure is steel reinforced, concrete — normally considered too expensive for conventional homes. It is only the efficient manner in building these domes that keeps their costs down. In general, a Monolithic Dome will cost about the same as a traditional home of the same size and finish. With the strength, energy efficiency, life span, and durability of the Monolithic Dome it is a miracle that it doesn’t cost substantially more. Our rule of thumb in estimating the final cost of an average, finished Monolithic Dome home is $110 per square foot (2006 pricing) of floor area. This includes everything but your furniture and land. The dome shell with rough openings for doors and windows costs about one-half the “finished square-footage price” and the materials used for the dome costs about one half of the shell cost per square foot.

Monolithic Dome churches, schools, and other institutional buildings usually cost much less than comparable conventional structures. There are two reasons. One, institutional buildings must meet tougher building codes than homes, therefore, they are built using more expensive materials. A standard Monolithic Dome already meets and exceeds these codes. Two, it is a mathematical fact that domes cover more space than any other shape. This fact creates a margin of efficiency between the dome and “square buildings.” The bigger the building, the larger this margin becomes. These two facts helped the Payson Elementary School in Payson, Arizona, save a lot of money. The school cost $64 per square foot versus the state-wide average of $84 per square foot. (prices in 1994, prices are nearly double in 2010) Click here to read about buying a Monolithic Dome School)

Storages: Nothing beats the Monolithic Dome for cold storage, freezers, corrosive resistant storage, large bulk storage of any material, specialized storage, or nearly any storage.

Stadiums: The size of the dome is so large when building a stadium that the mathematical efficiency of the dome becomes a major factor. A Monolithic Dome stadium can cost half as much as a conventional stadium, and it will be made of concrete!