Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Dome cabin

Thanks to Hugh Thomson for sending in details of his dome cabin garden office concept which he is hoping to build in the not too distant future. The design, which grew out of a study of geodesic structures, offers various configurations for placement of windows and solar panels. More details and technical notes at his site.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:28 PM

    I realize this must be an interesting concept to work with on the computer.
    But in real life does anyone still believe in domes?

    Problems
    - need special hardware to fasten all lumber together
    - what to use as inside and outside wall surfaces
    - how to stop leaking water and heat
    - no walls for shelves
    - hard to recycle/use recycled materials
    - lots of cutting of larger pieces of lumber into bits

    What benefits are there?
    EJ

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  2. Hi EJ,

    Thank you for your comments. As the designer I certainly do believe in Domes. This particular design addresses most of your comments:

    - No special hardware fasteners required just threaded inserts.
    - The wall surface in this design uses marine ply which can be varnished, painted or even finished with shingles.
    - leaking water is not an issue as the edge joints are designed to negate this.
    - shelves can of course be fitted to the space frame structure or alternatively for something different is to have a central column with fitted shelves or cupboards.
    - all material is wood and can be recycled.
    - the space frame is designed to use off the shelf wood timber sizes, admittedly though there is some cutting of panels for the roof easy done with a simple jigsaw.

    There probably are no real benefits in comparison to traditional similar size sheds, but it is different, spacious, you can place your windows anywhere you like and if you have solar panels you are not restricted to placement as you would have with a normal roof design.

    Regards

    Hugh

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