The process begins with an idea: how your home will look, how many windows, etc. If you have not done so, I recommend that you contact Monolithic Dome Inc. (MDI) and order "The Living Book." Here you can compare over a hundred of sample blueprints and begin to decide what you would like for your dome. In addition, check with them for their Presidential Specials. These are tried and true blueprints of domes, one in each of the more popular sizes, which Monolithic offers to you at a reduced cost. Not EXACTLY what you wanted? No problem. Minor changes to these blueprints are offered at little to no cost to you.
Along the way, you may consider purchasing the Monolithic Dome DVD (also in VHS) which contains valuable information on building your dome.
If none of the pre-designed domes suits your fancy, Monolithic offers a feasibility study using their Residential Online Evaluator v1.1. Later, for a nominal cost, they will take a word description of your dream home and create a diagram.
The next step is to hire an architect to translate your diagram into a precise blueprint. I highly recommend using Monolithic's own in-house talent for the design of your dome home because they have the most experience with domes and I have always found their prices to be more than fair.
As you decide on your dream dome, you will need to make several decisions as follows:
Augment Style Inset Style Hobbit Style Conventional Style
The advantage of the augmented door is that your doors and windows can hang vertical with the protection of the fabric and no loss of floor space. This is my personal favorite because of the ease of construction and as a result I price domes using augments a little cheaper.
The advantage of an inset door is that you will have partial protection from the wind as you fumble for your key. The disadvantage is that we need to be careful to slope the concrete floor away from the door so that the rain will not puddle under your door. Another disadvantage is that you will lose some floor space as the door will be set back to accommodate the slope of the roof. Another disadvantage is that you have more conventional walls facing the outside, which means you lose the efficiency of a foam/concrete wall.
The "Hobbit" style is a combination of the Augment and the Inset styles. The advantage is that you get the best of both worlds of the Inset and the Augment.
The advantage of the conventional style door/window is that some people like the dormer look. The disadvantage is that is very hard to "marry" conventional structures with dome technology without creating a potential for rain leaks. Without question, it can be done, but you may find though the years that problems arise because the two structures expand and contract at different rates.
For a further discussion on dome openings, please refer to Monolithic's web site.
Basements are almost non-essential to a dome home. The reason being is that you are already in an underground type environment so using a basement as a storm shelter is unnecessary. Moreover, MDI maintains that your most cost-effective dome is a single story on a slab. But many still desire basement for many different reasons
There are two ways to build a basement. The first is to simply draw a square in the center of your dome. Here the basement is dug out and formed with conventional methods. The second is to escavate an entire hill, then use a stem wall to form a basement. A way to picture this is to picture a dome on top of a cylinder. The one that is best for you will depend on your needs, budget, and land.
I recommend that you plan enough time to get your blueprint done correctly. As Monolithic will quickly remind all their customers, "If you fail to plan, then plan to fail." This process will require that a blueprint go back and forth between you and the architect several times before it is just right.