Winter Wonderland- You are in Switzerland, skating on a beautiful trail that opens onto a large ice pond. You spend the day exploring the ice caves, riding the tram to the restaurant lodge, or shopping in the village. The Monolithic Dome makes this possible in even the hottest areas of the world. (Rick Crandall)
Monolithic Theme Park Domes: Bringing Fantasies Down To Earth
Perfect fantasy domes
Monolithic Domes — those sturdy, most stationery of stationery structures — have entered a new realm — the realm of fantasy. Rick Crandall, Consulting Architect, says, “Monolithic Domes make perfect fantasy domes, and they are rapidly gaining popularity for fantasy environments such as those in theme parks, water parks, zoos, theaters, planetariums — even shopping malls.”
Monolithic Domes as fantasy domes are faster and less expensive to build; they cannot burn or be destroyed by violent weather; they require less maintenance; their energy consumption and insurance cost much less; their construction and use is not restricted to climate.
What’s new is that people are now realizing how much more suitable the exterior and interior of a Monolithic Dome is — in comparison to the outside and inside of a traditional, cornered structure — for the creation of a fantasy environment. Virtual reality becomes believable reality when the structure housing the fantasy environment can be made to seemingly disappear.
The very shape of a Monolithic Dome makes its disappearance as a building more possible. This is particularly true in domes with a diameter of 100’ or more, whose interior surface has been troweled smooth and painted a neutral color. Imagine a large dome with a smooth, sky blue interior. Unless a fly lands on its ceiling, there is little depth perception. It’s impossible to gauge distances. The interior is like a sky.
Affordable sky shells
Using smoothness and neutrality, on a building’s interior, to make theatrical deception more possible is not a new concept either. Designers of fantasy environments, such as those in the Disney theme parks and in Las Vegas, have been using such structures, called sky shells, for some time.
Conventionally built sky shells cost big bucks — amounts so unimaginable they don’t even make it into the Average Joe’s fantasies! Monolithic Domes make sky shells much more affordable. The advantages of round have been evident for some time, but, till recently, round was the most expensive to build. Monolithic Domes now make it the least expensive.
Zoos
We may never be able to talk to the animals, but Monolithic Domes housing zoo exhibits might make it almost possible to walk with the animals. Progressive zoos strive to duplicate an animal’s natural environment, and still allow safe viewing. Monolithic Domes easily achieve those goals: They provide the roundness that Mother Nature prefers and animals know. See-through partitions are easily arranged in Monolithic Domes, and their concrete makes the entire structure safe for viewers and animals. Because of a Monolithic Dome’s insulation, necessary temperatures can be more easily and cost-efficiently maintained. Consequently, zoos in hot, humid zones can exhibit penguins, while those in cold areas can include Bengal Tigers.
Underwater Theme Parks
Constructed inside a Monolithic Dome and using pressurized vessels, an Underwater Theme Park may soon let us walk underwater and visit sea creatures where they live. A Monolithic Dome’s ability to safely tolerate water pressure makes this attraction possible. Such a dome can be built on shore, then moved into the water with cranes, and positioned so that the dome’s top is about 15’ below the water’s surface.
Outer Space Theme Park
This space station within a Monolithic Dome makes it possible for just about anyone to be an astronaut. Its smooth, flat-black interior eliminates depth perception, while laser projectors create and move the stars and planets.
Motion Picture Sound Stages
Movie producers are discovering the advantages of creating sound stages within Monolithic Domes. Obviously, they save millions in construction and maintenance and can be built faster. But they also provide wider shooting angles and a housing for almost any weather or environmental condition.
Monolithic Domes make fantasy easier!
Fantasy environments entertain and delight us by providing a temporary, safe escape from reality. And the more realistic that fantasy environment is, the better we like it. Since Monolithic Domes make it easier, more practical and less costly to create a believable fantasy environment, it stands to reason that Monolithic Domes will become the fantasy structures of the future.
Lagoon- It’s a wonderful day in Hawaii. You could lay on the beach all day, but instead, you get your board and catch the perfect waves. Later you spend time at the waterfalls before going to a Luau. And you can do this all year round, and within driving distance of your home. Truly the best part of fantasy domes is the convenience to the people who visit. (Rick Crandall)
Space Station- Imagine dining in a space station. You look out the window and down onto the slowly turning earth. You watch as Astronauts float in the void of space — BLASTING lasers at each other. It would be perfectly safe, inside the 300’ diameter dome. The “earth” is a projection onto a translucent screen beneath the “space station.” (Rick Crandall)
Sky Shell- Restaurant theme dome by Rick Crandall. Consider a three or four dome complex with different themes in each dome. There would be something for everyone. (Rick Crandall)