Company History

The technology of building thin shell Monolithic™ domes by spraying foam and concrete to the inside of a pressurized, dome shaped, fabric airform was developed and patented in Idaho by brothers, Barry, David and Randy South. In 1975, the South brothers began experimenting with inflatable airforms, spraying them with polyurethane foam to develop initial rigidity, then adding rebar and continuous-spray concrete to form the completed structure. A year later, they created their first monolithic dome using the continuous spray-in-place process. They built the first monolithic dome home in 1977 and two years later were awarded their first United States patent for the monolithic construction process. The first patent was followed by a Canadian patent in 1980 and a second United States patent in 1982. Additional registered and pending patents for various dome construction applications have followed in the ensuing years.

By 1986, Dome Technology had constructed 100 domes and two years later built its first dome in Europe. In 1989, the company built 28 domes for grain storage in the Middle East. By 1994, Dome Technology had constructed 200 domes along with its first dome in Eastern Europe. A year later the company built its first dome in Asia, and three years later built its first dome in South America, as well as the world’s largest clinker dome silo built in the United Arab Emirates. In 1988, Hurricane George struck three of the company’s domes in Puerto Rico, none of which sustained any damage. No structural damage has occurred to dome structures that have been in the paths of recent hurricanes in the southeastern United States including Hurricanes Charley, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne (2004) and Dennis and Katrina (2005). One of our storage domes in Manzanillo, Mexico withstood 6.2 and 7.8 Richter scale earthquakes, while most surrounding port facilities and structures were heavily damaged or slipped into the ocean.

In 2000, Dome Technology built the then largest diameter dome ever built, a 280-foot diameter church structure in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2007, we completed an industrial coal storage dome in the Midwest with a diameter of 298 feet, making it the current largest dome in the world. The Alabama church dome remains the largest architectural dome. Over the ten years prior to 2002, the company averaged in excess of 20 domes per year. With good business resiliency planning following serious setbacks caused by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, we began diversifying our products and services and expanding our markets for non-industrial dome applications. We have been successful in doing so and have experienced phenomenal growth over the last four years.

Beginning in 2005 and continuing into 2006, the industrial market rebounded strongly while the architectural market, particularly schools, remained strong. 2006 and 2007 marked an important entry into large recreational applications for our monolithic domes with completion of our first indoor water park under an elliptical dome as part of a new major chain hotel in Ohio. 2007 and 2008 showed very strong domestic and foreign markets with foreign dome construction projects pending, underway, or completed in Canada, Poland, Latvia, Morocco, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Over the last 30 plus years we have constructed some 500 monolithic domes throughout the United States and in Canada, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Argentina, Germany, Jordan, Lithuania, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and United Arab Emirates. While we may be impacted by the current global financial upheaval due to the subprime mortgage investment debacle, we are conservatively forecasting a busy 2009 with additional projects already scheduled into 2010.

Dome Technology - Since 1976, The Pioneer and Leader of Modern Dome Construction.

When you hire Dome Technology, you're hiring the industry's most experienced team. Dome Technology pioneered every technique used in today's modern insulated concrete dome construction. The company's personnel have placed hundreds of domes around the world, in dozens of custom applications. The company continues to lead the industry in innovations contributing to the dome's versatility and efficiency of performance. Whether you are considering a dome for the traditional application of bulk storage, or are thinking of harnessing the dome's advantages for an architectural structure, you'll find Dome Technology a capable partner, able to assume leadership in every aspect of a successful construction.