June 10, 2009

House of the Week 026: Pheonix

A 30 ft geodesic dome for and by a Jamaican architect (Pat Stanigar) was completed in 2004, on the site of a previous dome (c.1984) that was burnt to the ground in 2002. The project is aptly titled the Phoenix.
The dome made from a prefabricated kit of parts that provides the basic structure is based on a hexagonal unit that is cyclically layered to a closed loop. The building is faced with insitu concrete with fiberglass additives to prevent hairline cracks.
The purity of the dome is broken by climatic considerations to deal with the tropical environment most notably the angled protrusions below the equator of the dome. These triangular elements allow cooler air into the structure that can be shut during storms.
The interior of the Phoenix is spartan, walls made of finished timber between the main structure and painted concrete floors. The kitchen is defined by two pods used for storage, and two counters - one longer than the other used for washing and cooking.
Two additional structures were later added (never included within the circa 1980s scheme) and provide the services and were meant to be crustacean inversions to the rigid structure of the dome.

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