Dome home open for tours

Unique structure is under construction in the Sunrise area

F. ANDREW TAYLOR/VIEWSu-Z Allen sits on a porch wall at the Fenix Dome, her Monolithic Dome home under construction at 4243 E. Carey Ave. The home will be open for free public tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. F. ANDREW TAYLOR/VIEWThe second floor of the David and Su-Z Allen?s dome home will eventually serve as the couple?s bedroom. Advertisement

Ideally, David and Su-Z Allen would be living in their new home this weekend, instead of exhibiting it as an example of dome construction, but a number of factors have slowed them down. The primary factor, like much of the construction in the valley, is money. Currently, they're waiting to put about $200 of rubber grommets throughout the house to protect the wiring from the steel edges of the studs.

"Emergencies keep cropping up, but once we get those in we can start pulling wire and put in the AC," Su-Z Allen said.

Even partially finished, the Fenix Dome is an impressive and eye-catching structure. The two-story dome stands out among older houses in the residential neighborhood near the corner of Lamb Boulevard and Carey Avenue. There is literally nothing like it in town. There are several geodesic dome homes, most of which were built in the 1970s, but the Fenix Dome is the only concrete dome home in the valley.

The process for creating the shell dome is relatively simple and quick and usually takes around three to four weeks, according to David South, the president of Monolithic Domes and co-inventor of the Monolithic Dome technology. After the slab base is finished, contractors erect an inflatable dome form and construct a rebar frame inside it. Shotcrete, a form of sprayed concrete, is applied in layers until the walls are around four inches thick. The windows, doors and other openings are established at the same time as the walls. After that, it's just a matter of filling the frame with floors, walls wiring and the other niceties that make a shell a home.

"I tell people that they should expect it to take six months to a year for the house to be complete after the shell is finished," South said. "It's a custom house, and the stuff inside takes the same amount of time it takes with any custom house. It always takes a while because the best contractors are always busy."

Currently, the Fenix Dome has the shell, doors and windows complete, with the interior being mostly bare wood and steel studs. You can make out where the kitchen, living room and spare bedrooms will be on the ground floor. The upper floor is essentially one great room, and it will be the Allens' bedroom.

"We're going to project stars on the inside of the dome roof," Su-Z Allen said. "It's just going to be a terrific space."

In addition to the money issue, there were other problems associated with creating such a unique structure. For instance, the Allens had problems finding an air-conditioning contractor to work with them.

"We couldn't even get a local guy to give us a bid on what we want," Su-Z Allen said. "They want to put these big, honking systems like they have in all the stick houses, the houses that leak like a sieve. We don't need that much."

South notes that because of the thick concrete walls and the shape, Domes are much more energy efficient.

"They're greener than grass," South said. "A normal house will have one ton of air conditioning for every 250 to 300 square feet. These will use one ton per 1,000 square feet."

Su-Z Allen said that they figure they'll have to install their air conditioning system by themselves. Once the wiring and the AC is installed, the dome specialist contractor will return to finish spraying in insulation and applying a finishing surface and paint to the exterior.

"If money wasn't an issue, we could have it all finished in a month or two," Su-Z Allen said. "I was hoping to have it done two Christmases ago."

The Fenix Dome at 4243 E. Carey Ave. will be open for free tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Questions about the Fenix Dome can be sent to desertdome@cox.net. More information about monolithic domes can be found at www.Monolithic.com.

Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.