After over a year of hard work, BYU’s Triple Dome Home is open for visitors to explore as part of the Utah Valley Parade of Homes.
While all of the homes in the Utah Valley Parade of Homes have their own unique flair, they all feature traditional home shapes. However, this one is shaped like a dome. Three concrete domes make up the exterior of the home, while plywood interior walls form rooms inside.
According to BYU student Erik Bingham, team lead for the Triple Dome Home, they’re doing the Parade of Homes to “get the message out that not all the buildings have to look the same.” He continued, “Sustainability and ingenuity and innovation, those are all things that should be paraded.”
The Triple Dome Home is currently located behind the William H. Snell Building on campus. Bingham described the features of the building, which visitors will see as they tour the location.
“You can see into the kitchen because it’s an open floor plan concept with the bedrooms tucked in the back,” Bingham said.
The home is powered by an array of solar panels attached to the side of the house. The insulation and design allow the home to be thermally efficient, functional and livable.
“It holds and maintains temperature better than any other building I’ve ever been in,” Bingham said.
BYU junior Allyson Atchley, architectural manager for the Triple Dome Home, was originally nervous about the design of the home.
“I had a moment when we finished pouring the concrete when this just was all open, a huge concrete cave,” Atchley said. “Like, how are we going to make this look like a home?”
Her team came through, transforming the structure into a home. They added flooring, windows and interior walls that can be removed to easily transport the home to its final location. After finishing the building, appliances and furniture were added.
“It just looks amazing,” Atchley said. “It looks so livable and so warm and inviting. And so I’m really proud of what my team’s been able to accomplish.”
As visitors come in to tour the home, Atchley and other volunteers guide them through the building, showing off their hard work for all to see.
“I’m very proud of the BYU students that put this all together. This is really an incredible project we were able to accomplish,” Atchley said.
Visitors can tour the home between noon and 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person. After the Utah Valley Parade of Homes is completed on Saturday, June 24, the home will be disassembled and sent to Orange County, California to compete in the Orange County Sustainability Decathlon. The home was already entered into the 2023 Solar Decathalon which took place in Golden, Colorado, where they won 8th place overall.
