Construction Photo Journal of a Three-Bedroom Dome Home in Florida
Every Airform for every Monolithic Dome home is custom designed, patterned and fabricated at Monolithic’s headquarters in Italy, Texas. For this house, the standard starburst seam pattern was appropriate.
The serene Florida environment reflected in the dome home’s pond.
Early in 2024, we began patterning this two-dome home in Brunell, Florida. Here are a few photos showcasing the construction of this three bedroom, 2,147-square-foot residence.
The first dome, measuring 42 feet in diameter, includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a spacious living area, and an open-concept kitchen. Additionally, this dome features a loft located above the bedrooms and bathrooms.
The second dome, 30 feet in diameter, is a two-car garage. Connecting the two domes is an insulated tunnel, which houses the laundry room.
The Airform is attached to the slab. The next step is to turn on the inflator fan!
Our crew arrived on-site on December 5, 2024, to attach and inflate the Airform and begin spraying foam. Before attaching the Airform, the Paxis Polar Scaffold system, unique to Monolithic, was placed on the slab under the uninflated membrane along with foam and shotcrete equipment. The Paxis makes installing rebar and spraying foam and concrete much easier.
Hanging rebar in this home presented very few challenges. Rebar patterns are unique to each dome. We start with horizontal hoops of rebar tied to the rebar stickers embedded in the foam. We then tie the vertical bars to the hoops. We always add more rebar around openings and in augments. Once the rebar work was done, our guys started spraying shotcrete and embedding the rebar.
After the shotcrete application, interior framing and construction of the home began, some of which is documented here. Monolithic will apply the stucco coating to the dome’s exterior in 2025. Stay tuned for more photos coming soon!
The owner’s land in Bunnell, Florida, before any site preparation began.
Heavy equipment is used to clear the timber that was cut on the site.
Concrete slab floor being poured. Note the rebar uprights that will be tied into the dome shell.
The Airform is inflated. It’s fun to have a site with nothing, and 10 minutes later, there is a dome on it.
Once inflated, crews attach the airlock so we can access the interior of the dome. We encourage everyone to keep their pants pulled up when installing an airlock.
This inflator fan has a special nose cone that was developed by Monolithic. It will help keep the pressure steady while building the dome.
Interior shot of the dome right after it was inflated. The scaffolding was placed on the floor before the Airform was spread over it. It’s impossible to carry it all in through the airlock.
Dave Wilhite, project’s general contractor, getting ready to enter the dome for the first time.
The crew is now applying the polyurethane foam inside the dome. Two inches of foam go on, then rebar hangers, then the final layer of foam.
Foam is now finished. You can see the wires of the rebar hangars sticking out of the foam, and the Paxis Polar Scaffold in the center of the larger dome.
The first of the reinforcement bars to go up are the hoop bars. These bars are tied to the rebar hangers.
Next, we stand up the vertical bars from the floor so that the dome and the floor are tied together.
This round window frame has a spray stop, and rebar tied up to it.
Outside, the concrete pump delivers the concrete inside the dome.
Rebar patterns vary, and while we take pride in our reinforcement work, it will ultimately remain hidden once the project is complete.
Additional reinforcements are placed around the doors and windows. Notice the beginning of electrical conduit installation around the window.
The tunnel connecting the house and the garage will also house the laundry room.
Rebar pattern in the garage dome.
The initial layer of shotcrete is being sprayed. The first coat will be approximately ½ to ¾ inch thick, except around the base of the dome, where we apply nearly full thickness on the first pass.
Spraying shotcrete is one of the dirtiest jobs around. The nozzle operator wears a rain suit to protect their skin from the cement, a mask and a hard hat equipped with a special plastic wrap-dispensing spool. The plastic wrap is pulled down in front of the sprayer’s face to protect goggles, faces and masks from being covered in overspray. As the transparent plastic gets coated with bits of shotcrete, the nozzleman can pull down and dispense a fresh length so his view remains clear.
Once the dome shell is finished, interior frame walls can be constructed. Building these walls inside the dome is more straightforward than most people think. In this home, we used wood studs to build the rooms, but we often use steel.
This dome will feature a loft area above the bedrooms and bathrooms. Wood studs are preferred over standard steel studs when building a second-story that needs to support people and furniture.
This window is mounted in an augment, and will be trimmed out next. The small amount of wrinkles will disappear after stucco is applied to the dome’s exterior. The stucco will protect the Airform from UV rays.
The large round window is an beautiful addition to this dome.
The blue Floridian skies and newly inflated Monolithic Dome home under construction.