Plywood

3 years ago my brother and a friend of his and myself built an 8 ft. dome of conduit and plywood in my back yard. It's still there and in good order today, in fact it's where I park my bicycle. The project was intended as an experiment in alternative living, low impact, renewable energy, etc. We never completed the project, money, time, personal commitments etc.. intervened. The friend occupied the structure for one winter while between apartments. It was unfinished, dirt floor absolutely no interior finishing and with a tarp for a roof the first month of his stay. We did put a roof on it and about a year and half later I put in a floor, (joist and plywood, not the cement one we had intended). And now it is a very serviceable storage shed and bicycle garage.

It is a 2 frequency triacon alternate breakdown of 8ft diameter. Built of 3/4 in. conduit bolted at the hubs and covered with 1/4in exterior plywood. Plywood was cut into triangles to fit and attached with conduit clamps, (those little omega shaped clamps that hold conduit to walls, or in this case hold the walls to the conduit). Joints between the plywood panels were taped and the whole shebang painted with an epoxy roofing compound. The roof consists of a pentagon "gable" that sits atop the top conduit pentagon. The gable is topped with that corrugated translucent green house covering and the sides of the gable are hinged and glazed windows.

The door is similar to Joe's idea. Since I'm no artist I'll refer to his drawing for the Hothouse. Looking at the pentagon take the top center tube and bend it straight up and out. Take the two side arms of the star, and likewise bend them straight up and out. This makes a king of dormer that becomes the top the door frame. The two legs of the star are removed completely and a door frame is roughed in. Paneling the door area is more difficult because the panels have to be custom cut.

Some details.

• To address Rogers question about light, even with just a 75 watt light bulb reflecting from unfinished plywood ample light was obtained. The illumination is very even without shadows. If the walls where better reflectors it would be uncomfortable to remain in it with a bright light.
• It is equally good at reflecting sound it is almost easier to hear someone standing near a wall opposite you than someone standing in the middle, (there can be no secrets kept in a dome).
• Air circulation is truly incredible with the chimney effect of the gable windows.
• We never insulated the dome, and the shell is just plywood and epoxy paint so it really follows the outside temp. While Leo used it that one winter he heated with an kerosene heater. It didn't work very well. Domes have a favorable surface to volume ratio, its a lot of volume to heat and without insulation that dome shape makes for a wonderful radiator. The friend couldn't keep it warm.

Travis