Design Is Personal

DOME HOME DESIGNS 

Is it time to reconsider wood and nails? West Hollywood architect Doug Stanton thinks so. After years of building Spanish-style luxury homes, Doug is exploring a different housing model. Deeply moved by the devastation caused by natural disasters in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas - as well as around the world - Doug has decided to champion an ‘out of the box’ method of home construction that is 1) impervious to most natural disasters 2) incredibly energy efficient and 3) easy and sustainable to construct.

ENTER THE DOME

Dome Homes were first introduced in the 1940s by Wallace Neff, a leading Southern Californian architect. Neff’s innovative construction method involved inflating an airform balloon onto which concrete was sprayed, resulting in a uniquely strong structure that looked a bit like an igloo. The inherent challenge in bringing the Dome Home into the 21st century is satisfying a higher standard of design aesthetics. Formally trained as both artist and architect, Douglas Stanton is up to the challenge. Doug’s vision is to build housing that is architecturally exciting, in harmony with the natural environment as well as being safe and sustainable. In other words: green and beautiful.

THE NEW HOUSING BUBBLE

Compelling reasons to consider the Dome Home as a viable alternative to trad homes: they are cost efficient, can be erected quickly in an emergency situation, and are resistant to fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. The icing on the cake: Dome Homes require approximately 50% less energy for heating and cooling as a typical wood frame construction. Now this is a housing bubble we can get behind.

We live in earthquake rattled Los Angeles so we can’t tell you how excited we were to hear about his new direction.

Doug recently participated in Modernism Week 2012 building a Concrete Bubble Cabana to demonstrate the dome construction method. The cabana was subsequently donated to the DeMuth Community Center in Palm Springs. Take a look at the photos here and stay tuned on Twitter and Facebook to see the progress of Doug’s future endeavors. If you follow his blog dstantonarchitects.wordpress.com, he’ll walk you through the thought and design process behind all his projects! If you would like to hear more about his sustainable design concepts, he will be speaking on an AIA panel discussion at the ALTbuild Expo in Santa Monica on Friday, May 11^th : http://www.altbuildexpo.com/speakers_schedule_3.html

For more information: Doug Stanton Architects www.dstantonarchitects.com;  No Nails, No Lumber, by Jeffrey Head, documents dome designs of Wallace Neff.

-m2