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Indestructible Futuristic Dome Home Made in California Already Scored 500 Pre-Orders

Even the most ingenious self-sufficient, sustainable tiny homes pale in comparison to this incredible house that seems to have dropped from another planet. It’s not just its unusual dome shape but the fact that it’s carbon-neutral, affordable, versatile, and meant to live for 500 years.
The Geoship dome home has an unusual shape and it's made of bioceramic 8 photos
Photo: Vimeo/Geoship
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Geometry and chemistry are the mysterious forces behind this fascinating concept that wants to revolutionize the housing market. More specifically, Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic geometry and Rustum Roy’s ceramic crystal chemistry. A courageous Californian startup, called Geoship, turned these discoveries into a type of eco-friendly house boasting a unique dome structure and made of an innovative material, bioceramic.

This dome would have a 30-foot diameter (9.1 meters), resulting in 700 square feet (65 square meters) of living space at the floor level, with 300 square feet (27.8 square meters) extra upstairs. But one dome is meant to be part of a larger structure obtained by pairing two or more domes together. This way, the owners can expand their homes as much as they want. Also, all of these domes are meant to be part of a community based on sustainability and other eco-friendly values.

“A post-climate change utopian future” is how Morgan Bierschenk, Geoship CEO, described this vision. That’s because it boldly claims to become the solution for all the current housing issues, such as pollution, high prices, and high energy costs. These future domes would be completely non-toxic, Bierschenk told Forbes recently, because they are based entirely on this innovative type of ceramic. So there would be no metal or wood. Everything would be ceramic, from the frame to the interior.

Geoship Bioceramic Geodesic Dome Home
Photo: Vimeo/Geoship
He explained that this chemically-bonded material resembles both ceramic and cement, helping create walls that “don’t burn, don’t rust, don’t rot.” In addition to being non-polluting and highly resilient, this unconventional building material could be easily manufactured in small, local factories, making it easily available and affordable for the owners. This also means that in case some small damage does occur, the owners can simply fix it with a fresh batch of bioceramic.

Geoship’s CEO also emphasized this material’s exceptional insulating properties. Together with the dome geometry (which helps reduce the dwelling’s surface by at least 30%, compared to conventional rectangular builds) and natural insulation material (such as wool), bioceramic could keep people warm in the winter and cool in warmer weather, without any artificial means.

This geodesic home would also be earthquake-resistant and hurricane-resistant, and it was designed as a modular system that can be easily transported and then assembled, like a piece of furniture. Bierschenk said that there will be Geoship-certified installers in the future, but that, ideally, the ones who will live in these dome homes will be able to build them themselves, using the bioceramic made by nearby micro-factories that would be mostly automated.

Geoship Bioceramic Geodesic Dome Home
Photo: Vimeo/Geoship
By now, some of you might be thinking that this is just another futuristic concept that’s only going to stay on paper. Fortunately, that’s not the case. In just two years, the Californian company has succeeded in raising more than $1.5 million. It all began with a crowd-funding campaign on Startengine, and it’s now reached the point of 500 pre-orders. Plus, Geoship has recently installed its first prototype with an 18-foot (5.4 meters) diameter.

Still, mass production isn’t scheduled to kick off earlier than two years, perhaps four. According to the builder, it’s taking so long because this project isn’t just about a new material or a new design, but it includes all three – new materials, new designs, and a specific manufacturing technology.

As far as the price goes, the bioceramic geodesic home is ultimately meant to be an affordable, green alternative to conventional housing, which means that the turnkey solution would range between $50,000 and $200,000, depending on the size.

Geoship Bioceramic Geodesic Dome Home
Photo: Vimeo/Geoship
Like all breakthrough concepts, the dome home will initially be more expensive, at about $160/square foot, but as production scales up, the price will eventually go down. And let’s not forget that the dome home is supposed to live for 500 years, which is unlike anything that a conventional, more affordable house could promise.

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About the author: Otilia Drăgan
Otilia Drăgan profile photo

Otilia believes that if it’s eco, green, or groundbreaking, people should know about it (especially if it's got wheels or wings). Working in online media for over five years, she's gained a deeper perspective on how people everywhere can inspire each other.
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