GEODESIC WOOD DOMES
FEATURES
FEATURES
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ENERGY EFFICIENT
Our Continental geodesic domes require less energy to heat and cool and lend themselves geothermal HVAC systems & other types of alternative energy sources. Our domes can save you up to over fifty percent when on standard (on the grid) electrical and gas hookups. This saves you tons of money for years to come! All our domesare wood frame construction for the shell, so you have better insulation for even more savings on heating and cooling, in all types of climates SUPERIOR IN STRENGTH Our Continental geodesic domes have been proven to withstand severe inclement weather all over the world, better than the standard box type construction, including snow loads, tornadoes and hurricanes, making them a safe and secure place to live. After all, can you think of anything stronger than interlocking triangles? |
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EASY TO ASSEMBLE
The Continental Quick-build Geodesic dome kit home is ideal for the in-experienced "do-it-yourselfer". Only basic hand tools are required to assemble the basic kit. Everything is precision cut and color coded for ease of assembly, and comes with complete blueprints and instructions. Only regular every day tools are needed and our complete instruction manuals make it a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. We do all the hard stuff, so you reap all the benefits. Once the kit is assembled, everything else is standard construction.
ECOLOGICALLY FRIENDLY
Our Continental dome structure itself requires about forty percent less building materials to enclose the same amount of space than the standard square box building. This saves natural resources and the energy used to produce the construction materials, as well as saving energy consumption after the home is finished. Again less energy used means more savings to you and is better for our environment.
EXPANDABLE
Our Continental dome can be designed with literally hundreds of different floor plans to suit every need for you and your family. You can start with a small to medium sized dome and add others in a cluster arrangement as your family grows or your needs change. This can be done much easier than standard housing because you are not limited by or worrying about load bearing walls, roof trusses, and "marrying in" the addition so it does not look like an add on. The additional dome or round home can be added to any opening area you wish, with just a little aforethought during the design phase. The domes or round homes can be done in stages and finished as your schedule & budget permits. This allows you to be in charge of costs better than a room addition or remodel project.
The Continental Quick-build Geodesic dome kit home is ideal for the in-experienced "do-it-yourselfer". Only basic hand tools are required to assemble the basic kit. Everything is precision cut and color coded for ease of assembly, and comes with complete blueprints and instructions. Only regular every day tools are needed and our complete instruction manuals make it a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. We do all the hard stuff, so you reap all the benefits. Once the kit is assembled, everything else is standard construction.
ECOLOGICALLY FRIENDLY
Our Continental dome structure itself requires about forty percent less building materials to enclose the same amount of space than the standard square box building. This saves natural resources and the energy used to produce the construction materials, as well as saving energy consumption after the home is finished. Again less energy used means more savings to you and is better for our environment.
EXPANDABLE
Our Continental dome can be designed with literally hundreds of different floor plans to suit every need for you and your family. You can start with a small to medium sized dome and add others in a cluster arrangement as your family grows or your needs change. This can be done much easier than standard housing because you are not limited by or worrying about load bearing walls, roof trusses, and "marrying in" the addition so it does not look like an add on. The additional dome or round home can be added to any opening area you wish, with just a little aforethought during the design phase. The domes or round homes can be done in stages and finished as your schedule & budget permits. This allows you to be in charge of costs better than a room addition or remodel project.
SPECIFICATIONS
Ease of Construction Without Skilled Labor or Heavy-lift Equipment — All wooden components of a CBI-Geodesic Dome are pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications, and color-coded to make it easy for unskilled people to assemble them with precision and confidence. Two people can complete the framework for even the largest dome in less than two days. The largest piece for a 45' dome is a 10 ft. long 2" x 6", which is easily handled by one person.
CBI-Geodesic Domes are completely free-standing during construction. No shoring up is needed. No special tools or expensive lift-equipment, like cranes or forklifts, are necessary to assemble a CBI-Geodesic Dome.
Riser Walls — Domes 24' to 35' in diameter are designed with riser walls to give greater height to the structures. CBI-Geodesic also offers optional height riser walls for any size dome. Riser walls can be built up to 8' in height.
Each riser wall section comes to you pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications.
Select Structural 2" x 6" studs are nailed 16" on center between a rot resistant sill plate and a top plate. The outside is finished with a 1/2" CD exterior grade plywood. Hex bolts join each color-coded section to the next.
Struts — All CBI-Geodesic Struts are made from kiln-dried 2" x 6" Select Structural Hem Fir or Douglas Fir, which can withstand considerable compression
and tension. Every strut is beveled on its outer edge to ensure that the plywood panels lie flat on the struts. We do not use automatic feeds or gang drills. All struts are pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications &/or individually cut and drilled at correct angles. In addition to purchasing lumber that is graded and rated for strength, we personally inspect each piece for knots, or warping. You get only top quality struts that are accurately pre-cut, pre-drilled, and color-coded.
Stuttgart Steel Connectors —Each patented Stuttgart Steel Connector in the CBI-Geodesic Assembly System is fully engineered and fabricated with correct axial and radial angles to assure maximum strength, durability, precision and ease of assembly.
The Stuttgart Steel Connectors are manufactured from schedule 40 steel pipe and 10-gauge hot-rolled steel.
They are painted with industrial primer and then color-coded for easy identification. The wooden struts butt directly up to the central pipe, which virtually eliminates shear in bolts, and allows for strong compression loads.
Ledger Hanger System — The patented Stuttgart Steel CBI-Geodesic Ledger Hanger hardware uses the existing structural framework of a 5/8 sphere CBI-Geodesic dome itself to form an auxiliary framework for a second floor.
Studs — Studs are fabricated from #2 or better Douglas Fir or Hem Fir. They are precision cut to be installed at 16"
on center throughout the framework. The result is an enhanced framework that conforms with standard dimensions of conventional finishing materials.
Plywood Panels — The triangular plywood panels are made from 1/2" 5-ply Structural Grade #1 plywood, pre-cut and color coded.
Skylights — Dome symmetry permits the placement of skylights virtually anywhere in the structure. In addition to creating an attractive natural light ambience, a skylight pattern that follows the path of the sun provides passive solar heating, increasing your energy efficiency.
Base Plates — precisely cut solid 4" x 6" pressure-treated beveled base plates are mounted to the foundation (or to the top plate of a riser wall) to achieve the correct angle to support the bottom struts of the dome structure.
Ease of Construction Without Skilled Labor or Heavy-lift Equipment — All wooden components of a CBI-Geodesic Dome are pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications, and color-coded to make it easy for unskilled people to assemble them with precision and confidence. Two people can complete the framework for even the largest dome in less than two days. The largest piece for a 45' dome is a 10 ft. long 2" x 6", which is easily handled by one person.
CBI-Geodesic Domes are completely free-standing during construction. No shoring up is needed. No special tools or expensive lift-equipment, like cranes or forklifts, are necessary to assemble a CBI-Geodesic Dome.
Riser Walls — Domes 24' to 35' in diameter are designed with riser walls to give greater height to the structures. CBI-Geodesic also offers optional height riser walls for any size dome. Riser walls can be built up to 8' in height.
Each riser wall section comes to you pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications.
Select Structural 2" x 6" studs are nailed 16" on center between a rot resistant sill plate and a top plate. The outside is finished with a 1/2" CD exterior grade plywood. Hex bolts join each color-coded section to the next.
Struts — All CBI-Geodesic Struts are made from kiln-dried 2" x 6" Select Structural Hem Fir or Douglas Fir, which can withstand considerable compression
and tension. Every strut is beveled on its outer edge to ensure that the plywood panels lie flat on the struts. We do not use automatic feeds or gang drills. All struts are pre-engineered or pre-cut and pre-drilled to exacting specifications &/or individually cut and drilled at correct angles. In addition to purchasing lumber that is graded and rated for strength, we personally inspect each piece for knots, or warping. You get only top quality struts that are accurately pre-cut, pre-drilled, and color-coded.
Stuttgart Steel Connectors —Each patented Stuttgart Steel Connector in the CBI-Geodesic Assembly System is fully engineered and fabricated with correct axial and radial angles to assure maximum strength, durability, precision and ease of assembly.
The Stuttgart Steel Connectors are manufactured from schedule 40 steel pipe and 10-gauge hot-rolled steel.
They are painted with industrial primer and then color-coded for easy identification. The wooden struts butt directly up to the central pipe, which virtually eliminates shear in bolts, and allows for strong compression loads.
Ledger Hanger System — The patented Stuttgart Steel CBI-Geodesic Ledger Hanger hardware uses the existing structural framework of a 5/8 sphere CBI-Geodesic dome itself to form an auxiliary framework for a second floor.
Studs — Studs are fabricated from #2 or better Douglas Fir or Hem Fir. They are precision cut to be installed at 16"
on center throughout the framework. The result is an enhanced framework that conforms with standard dimensions of conventional finishing materials.
Plywood Panels — The triangular plywood panels are made from 1/2" 5-ply Structural Grade #1 plywood, pre-cut and color coded.
Skylights — Dome symmetry permits the placement of skylights virtually anywhere in the structure. In addition to creating an attractive natural light ambience, a skylight pattern that follows the path of the sun provides passive solar heating, increasing your energy efficiency.
Base Plates — precisely cut solid 4" x 6" pressure-treated beveled base plates are mounted to the foundation (or to the top plate of a riser wall) to achieve the correct angle to support the bottom struts of the dome structure.
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HURRICANE TRACK CHART
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WORLD CLIMATE ZONES
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HISTORY OF GEODESIC DOMES
Richard Buckminster Fuller and the History of Geodesic Domes
Richard Buckminster Fuller and the History of Geodesic Domes
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The design principles of the Continental domes are based on the revolutionary work of American inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician and cosmologist, Richard Buckminster ‘Bucky’ Fuller (1895-1983). He was the second president of Mensa and awarded 25 US patents.
Throughout his life, Fuller was concerned with whether or not “humanity had a chance to survive lastingly and successfully on planet Earth, and if so, for how long?” In pursuing this lifelong experiment, Fuller wrote more than thirty books an pioneered numerous inventions, chiefly in the fields of design and architecture. In the 1940s he set out to create a ‘design science’ that would produce the best solution to mankind’s housing problems using "minimal consumption of energy and materials". By replicating ‘nature’s own co-ordinate system’ which can be found in all spheres – from planets to molecules – and understanding that gravitational forces are spherical, his work challenged the efficiency of the traditional ‘linear’ architectural structures, and the geodesic dome was born. This remarkable, sphere-like structure was based on theories of ‘energetic-synergetic geometry’. Fuller demonstrated that a sphere was the most efficient space as it encloses the most volume using the least amount of surface area. Any dome therefore has the least surface through which to lose heat and has the unique ability to stand up to potentially damaging winds. Fuller’s efforts in creating the geodesic dome were applauded in 1970 when he was awarded a gold medal by the American Institute of Architects, critically acclaiming it as “the strongest, lightest and most efficient means of enclosing space known to man.” Carbon molecules known as ‘fullerenes’ or ‘buckyballs’ are so-called because of their resemblance to a geodesic sphere. Although the geodesic dome was widely hailed as a credible solution to world housing shortages, this ability was never realized. However, its efficient and economical shape makes it perfect for a range of applications in the modern world. |
