Price City Offices: A Monolithic Dome Municipal Complex
The Price, Utah municipal complex was completed in 1982 and was the first non-industrial and non-residential Monolithic Dome project.
The Price City Offices complex is a series of four large interconnected Monolithic Domes in Price, Utah. Designed by Kenneth R. Millard, architect, and completed in 1982, the campus stands out architecturally as the first group of Monolithic Domes to feature dramatic gothic arches.
This image from 1982 features a van parked inside one of the impressive gothic arches—illustrating the scale of this early Monolithic Dome project.
Three of the domes are 130 feet (40 m) in diameter and 43 feet (13 m) tall, and a fourth is three stories, 90 feet (27.5 m) in diameter and 40 feet (12 m) tall. Randy South, co-inventor of the Monolithic Dome, called the complex, with its gothic arches and curved interior space, the first “really beautiful domes constructed.”
In an interview in 2009, David B. South, founder of Monolithic and co-inventor of the Monolithic Dome, said, “(Price) was our first really big job. Those domes were monsters for their day, and we had never built anything that large before.”
Before Price, most Monolithic Domes were industrial storages and a handful of houses. Examples include Randy and David’s mother’s home and Cliffdome. The Price City Offices campus was a major stepping stone that led to more acceptance in the architectural community and the future use of Monolithic Domes as schools, churches, performing arts centers, resorts, gymnasiums, community shelters and more worldwide.
The complex was awarded the Achievement in Energy Innovation award by the State of Utah in 1984.