The Big Step Forward.
Comprised of ten wall panels and ten roof panels, the DecaDome® has the structural advantages of geodesics but is less complex. Vertical walls and identical, interchangeable parts make manufacture easier and assembly intuitive. Years of field-testing with numerous panel and connector combinations have proven that DecaDomes® are a better way to build buildings. Their high strength, light weight, and phenomenal wind and weather resistance makes them ideal for emergency and temporary shelter, greenhouses and storage units.
Geometry Good. Materials Good.
Meanwhile, Structural Insulated Panels or SIPs were in the early stages, pioneered by people such as Bill Porter in Holland, Michigan. SIPS integrated frame, skin, and interior treatment in a single panel. Years of experiments proved that a hybrid structure had the most potential to meet all of the goals set by the NewHouse design team: a rhombic-triacontahedron made of panels continuously connected along their edges with a patented edge-connector. The DecaDome® was born.
Geometry Good. Materials Bad.
The Rhombic Triacontahedral structures first popularized by Steve Baer (who called them Zomes) were a variation of the dome made of ten vertical walls, and ten roof panels. But Zomes still used a framework of 2x4 lumber, and were constructed in a conventional way.
Thousands of Parts = Wrong
They asked why buildings needed to be built out of thousands of parts. They looked at a variety of alternative building systems: The Geodesic Domes of R. Buckminster Fuller were extremely strong and efficient, but their curved walls were uncomfortable for many people, and they still required hundreds of hubs and struts.
- Safe
- Secure
- Comfortable
- Affordable
- Re-Useable
- Shelter-Storage-Greenhouses
In 1975, the founders of NewHouse Research and Design began their search for a better way to build buildings. A group of experienced craftsmen, business people and psychologists, they sought to create a building system that made the most efficient use of materials while also creating spaces that were comfortable and welcoming to be in.
DecaDome®
Advantages
WHY CHOOSE DECADOMES®?
- Identical parts assemble easily by two or three people in a couple of hours with simple tools.
- Flat panels make shipping and storage easy
- Light weight reduces costs all around.
- Unique shape creates a super strong building with excellent wind and weather resistance
- Easy assembly and disassembly allows anyone to put up or take down in hours rather than days with simple tools.
- Panels can be customized for tropical, frigid, and hostile environments.
- Vertical walls create a comfortable space.
- Domed ceiling improves ventilation and comfort
- Mass-produced panels and connectors reduce costs
- More secure than tents for shelter.
- Production can be scaled up easily