Crossroads of Walnut Avenue and Rockcreek Road

Anonymous donor gives new gymnasium to Hansen, Idaho

Thanks to a generous, anonymous donation the community of Hansen, Idaho, has a new gymnasium. The Hansen School District owns the 120-foot diameter monolithic dome but shares it with the city. “This is a unique facility,” said Superintendent David Carson at Friday’s open house. “It’s a community school district partnership. Both entities will be able to use it — a lot.”



News

State of the Art Health Facility Comes to Pecos

Aerial view of Reeves County Recreation Center in Pecos, Texas.

Local residents are enjoying the years of planning and work put in to improve the well-being of the community offered at the Reeves County Recreation Center. The facility began as an idea among the county commissioners in early 2012. Though elected officials changed over the years, each court has had at least one torchbearer who refused to let the dream lose momentum.

Students Learn and Work Hard at Spring 2023 Workshop

A double Texas-sized rainbow shines over a field during the Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop.

Bad concrete. A projector flashes picture after picture of concrete voids, poorly embedded rebar, and a concrete mess all over the ground. It’s Friday afternoon at the Spring 2023 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop and Gary Clark is giving his presentation, “The Worst Shotcrete Job, Ever.”

The Shamrock Chateau is, or at least was, for sale

Shamrock Chateau Monolithic Dome home in Italy, Texas.

While the house has sold, we still want to talk about this beautiful dome home because it’s unique, plus it’s the residence of retired Monolithic Dome designer Larry Byrne and his wonderful wife, Marilee. They designed and constructed a genuinely unique Monolithic Dome home, and we want to give it — and them — a proper sendoff.

Transition Ring Airform Membrane

Inflating a transition ring airform membrane

The Transition Ring Airform membrane is a composite air structure used as the formwork for constructing a hoop-style Monolithic Dome, aka the hoop dome. It is manufactured to inflate with a cylinder-shaped stem wall and a dome roof. To achieve this result, a steel ring is incorporated at the junction between the wall and dome membranes.

Monolithic Dome beach house for sale near Pensacola, Florida

Exterior of Pensacola, Florida, beach house.

The Silvershore Monolithic Dome Home is for sale. The house sits on a 290-foot by 130-foot lot on the shore of Bayou Grande in Pensacola Bay with a commanding view of the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The house is right on the water with a small beach and a boat dock.

Canadian artist creates a Spanish courtyard inside her Monolithic Dome home

Exterior of the Yorkton Monolithic Dome Home in Saskatchewan, Canada.

CTV News recently featured a Monolithic Dome home in Saskatchewan, Canada. Tonia Vermette constructed the home 18 years ago, and it’s a wonderful place to live, but as an artist, she never seemed to be finished with the house. Over the years, she’s painted murals, vines, and textures on the walls, turning the home into a living artwork.

A beautiful day for the 2022 tour of the Monolithic Dome Research Park

Open house sign and balloons in front of the office

On a beautiful sunny day, hundreds traveled to Italy, Texas, to tour the Monolithic Dome Research Park. Bruco, the Texas Italian Caterpillar — with its painted boots and smiling face — opened its doors on October 15, 2022, along with the offices, classrooms, and industrial buildings at the site — plus two unique Monolithic Dome homes.

People came prepared for the Arcadia Dome Home tour in 2022

Sunset at Arcadia Dome Home in Providence, Utah

Thirty people toured our house — Arcadia Dome Home — during the annual dome tour on October 15, 2022. Most visitors came from Utah or southern Idaho, but some came from as far away as Colorado. They didn’t come empty-handed. They had ideas, sketches and questions about building their own dome home. So. Many. Questions.

Prepare for real-world emergencies — not doomsday

When the Dallas Observer wrote about the Monolithic Dome Research Park, they connected the domes to prepping for doomsday. That misses the point. We are not preparing for the end times; we are preparing for the end … of a good book, curled up on the couch, peacefully reading while a storm rages outside.