The Building of Mother’s Wooden Dome

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The completed wooden dome greenhouse looked like this.
The completed wooden dome greenhouse looked like this.
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TOP: Eager seminar attendees lift the truss to a new position as the rear wall of the dome begins to take shape. BOTTOM:
TOP: Eager seminar attendees lift the truss to a new position as the rear wall of the dome begins to take shape. BOTTOM: "Deadmen" bristle-like porcupine quills on the outside of the structure. They'll be sawed off when they're no longer needed. 
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The frame of the plywood form is assembled on the concrete foundation, while a pile of cordwood awaits willing hands.
The frame of the plywood form is assembled on the concrete foundation, while a pile of cordwood awaits willing hands.
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Twelve-year-old John Carney did a man's job.
Twelve-year-old John Carney did a man's job.
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LEFT: The geodesic dome half of the structure rises to meet the cordwood half. RIGHT: Fastening plastic sheeting to each triangle of the dome.
LEFT: The geodesic dome half of the structure rises to meet the cordwood half. RIGHT: Fastening plastic sheeting to each triangle of the dome.
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LEFT: Two of the volunteer workers invented this
LEFT: Two of the volunteer workers invented this "airmail" system.  RIGHT: The geodesic framework is assembled

You may not need an entire 44-foot-diameter, 21-foot-high, geodesic-dome-fronted, wood-wall-backed solar greenhouse like the one that now graces MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ Ecological Research Center … but if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to construct a solid, well-insulated, wooden dome-shaped structure, the stackwood building method illustrated here is certainly a quick (and easy) one.

When stackwood expert Jack Henstridge set out to experiment with the low-cost construction technique as a part of last summer’s Earth-Sheltered Homes seminar–a whole crowd of folks pitched in, barn raising style, to help create what is (to the best of our knowledge) the world’s first stackwood dome.

Needless to say, since our project was a “first,” we did a lot of learning as we went along, and there are things that we’ll do a little differently when we build our next structure of this type. But we’d still like to tell you how an untested idea (with the help of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ wonderful summer visitors) became a reality.

Starting Out

Our dome began, of course, with the construction of its 44-foot-diameter foundation. This was built on a gravel base … and the outer three feet (that area which would actually support the wall) is composed of 18-inch-thick cement strengthened with five half-inch reinforcing rods, while the rest of the floor is only four inches thick and firmed up with wire mesh. (Other dome builders might want to make this layer as much as six inches thick, depending upon the load their structure’s foundation will bear.)

  • Published on Jul 1, 1980
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