Rentals and Ecoshells: a good first step for your dome building business

Shown here is an Ecoshell with a 20’ diameter. It’s one of the first ones we built as a commercial building. Notice that it is spherical in shape. Made as an Ecoshell I, it was built during a Monolithic Workshop, here at our plant in Italy, Texas. It is about 20 years old and has worked very well for us. The structure was painted with a white exterior coating.

This is a 40’ diameter Ecoshell that has been modified with two augmentations. It is an Ecoshell I that allows for the addition of the augmentations without modifying the Airform. It has been coated with a tan color.

This is a 40’ diameter Ecoshell I, with augmentations added to the Airform. It was spray-coated with a polyurethane. The owner has told me that he would never do that again, but would build a Monolithic Dome. We suggest strongly that Ecoshells be built as Ecoshells and not modified into Monolithic Domes, as the cost and the problems are huge.

One hundred twenty-five Ecoshells were built in Hyderabad, India. Each of these buildings encompasses six apartments. The apartments are 40 square meters, which seems small by U.S. standards but luxurious in India. A few of the buildings were also designed as offices.

This is a 30’ diameter Ecoshell. It works extremely well as a garage. You can put a Monolithic Rotating Door on this building.

Shown here is a series of 40’ Ecoshells, hooked together as a fertilizer plant. It took a bit of extra work and some preplanning, but the Ecoshells make a relatively inexpensive fertilizer plant that operates well.

Obviously, this Ecoshell serves a dual purpose: It makes a big garage and it makes a workout area for the local goats. It’s a 30′ × 13′ dome, built by Noel Neighbors in Arkansas.

Noel Neighbor’s Ecoshell has been modified for the entry door. In an Ecoshell I that’s easy to do.

When building an Ecoshell I, we use about six to eight inches of water column pressure. As can be seen, that’s a huge amount of uplift. These men are totally supported by the Airform, atop the reinforcing. The door augmentation will be added before it’s concreted.

Ecoshell I can be built using strictly hand labor or the Shotcrete machine. Note the scaffolding. A simple, standard type, lean over scaffold works well for building these Ecoshells.

These Ecoshell Ones are in New Ngelepen, Indonesia. They form a complete village, built using local help. The only equipment used was the inflator and the cement mixer.

Here are two medical clinics built in Kenya, by hand, using Ecoshell I technology – extremely useful technology for low cost structures.

Another Ecoshell I home, simple and long lasting.

This is another photo of one of the domes in Hyderabad, India. This Ecoshell is a spectacularly effective structure, built at a minimal price.