The Monolithic Crenosphere Dome

by Freda Parker

A dream come true!

If you think your organization just can't afford to build the ultimate sports facility, think again! The Crenosphere Dome is here, and, as far as super stadiums and arenas are concerned, it's a dream come true.

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The Crenosphere is the biggest and one of the newest members of the Monolithic Dome family. MDI President David B. South says, "Crenospheres can be designed and built with diameters ranging from 300 to 1000 feet and heights of 75 to 500 feet. A huge dome like that can accommodate thousands of spectators and any number of activities. A professional league, city, university or high school could hold just about any sport, ceremony, special event, or practice session in a Crenosphere. Various activities can even be held simultaneously if they're allotted their own areas.

"All that," David continues, "can take place in an enclosed structure that's independent of the weather, comfortably heated in the winter, cooled in the summer, and whose ground cover could be a quality artificial turf."

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Till now, many athletic directors, city officials and academic administrators thought that their dream of an enclosed arena was the impossible dream; that is no longer so.

The Crenosphere's Advantages

Significantly Lower Construction Costs -- In some situations, the cost of building a Crenosphere could be half the construction cost of other types of sports facilities, with nothing sacrificed in playing space, spectator seating, concessions or other amenities. The Crenosphere's construction process makes it affordable. A single contractor can build the shell, using readily available materials. Since most of the construction happens on the inside, not the outside, of the Airform, an efficient construction schedule can be maintained -- one that does not depend on weather, temperature or daylight. With three shifts, construction can continue on a 24-hour basis.

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Interior Design Flexibility -- The Crenosphere's interior adapts readily to almost any plan. Its inside is just space -- beautiful, open space. There are no pillars or posts -- only unobstructed space. Crenospheres can be single-level or multilevel; they can include mezzanines, hanging press boxes, concession and dining areas, spectator seating and lounges, restrooms and lockers.

Effective Seating of Large Assemblies - Domes create the best assembly occupancies that can be had. There's no better way to get the maximum number of people in the smallest volume all facing the same direction. There's no better shape than round. With dome technology, we don't have to accept the limitations of traditional architecture.

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400 ft. CRENOSPHERE
Crenospheres come in a variety of styles and sizes. Diameters range from 300' to 1000'. Here are versions of a 400-foot diameter Crenosphere that can hold a football field:

Field House - Designed for athletics with no audience seating, it includes an artificial grass cover over its entire area, minimal rest rooms and some office space. It can comfortably accommodate several activities, each with its own space, plus removable seating. "I suspect that almost any college or school would love having an indoor field house where several activities could be practiced simultaneously -- regardless of the weather or the temperature or the time of day," David says. "Now it's possible. For example, in one Crenosphere you can include an artificial grass field for football or soccer, a hard floor for tennis or basketball, and a running track along its inside perimeter. You can heat or cool it if necessary at a very affordable cost, and you can use it any time of day or night."
Simple Stadium - It has a football field, artificial turf, seating for 5000, rest rooms, locker rooms, simple concession areas and lighting.
Standard Stadium - As an indoor football or soccer stadium, this Crenosphere can comfortably seat 8000 and has extra rooms for weight training, radio announcing and concessions. It is particularly suitable for high schools and colleges.
Deluxe Stadium - With its many plush amenities and its seating for 8000, this stadium includes finished-out concession stands, shopping areas, folding stages and skyboxes.

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Energy Efficiency -- A Crenosphere has superior insulation with an effective R60 value. This eliminates sudden changes or peaks in the Crenosphere's interior temperature and greatly reduces heating and cooling costs. What heating or cooling the dome requires can be provided by smaller or fewer units, running for shorter periods. Dr. Arnold Wilson, consulting engineer with MDI, says that the Crenosphere's superior insulation is an automatic result of the foam layer sandwiched between its Airform and its concrete.

Interior Climate Control -- The Crenosphere is the ideal structure for controlling the weather in a play space. David says, "If you want to surf, you can build an indoor wave pool and keep it swimmingly warm. Or consider this ultimate sports facility: an indoor ski mountain. You can build a ski mountain inside a Crenosphere in the middle of a hot, densely populated city. Its residents can practice their skiing skills without going out of town and regardless of the weather."

Exterior Design Flexibility -- The variety of sizes and shapes make the Crenosphere ideal for football, indoor soccer, baseball, arena football, hockey, basketball, softball, tennis, etc.

Cost Efficient Maintenance -- The concrete and other materials used in the construction of the Crenosphere make the structure extremely durable and low maintenance. David says, "Because the Crenosphere does not have a roof such as traditional buildings have, the Crenosphere does not have roof problems. The roof of the Crenosphere is simply the uppermost part of the dome. There are no shingles to blow off or develop leaks."

Durability -- The Crenosphere's lifespan is measured in centuries, not years. It cannot burn, blow away, or be eaten by bugs. Such durability means less costly insurance premiums, and, more importantly, security.

Security -- A Crenosphere Dome can instantaneously become a disaster shelter and protect the population of a school or a community from the destructive force of a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake.

Twenty years of research and development went into the Crenosphere"s invention, and the patent awarded to David South that allows its construction took another two years. But according to David, "It was well worth it because what this means is that we"ll be building huge domes as covered stadiums and arenas and doing it at prices more institutions and organizations can afford. Now that's a dream come true."

The chart below gives approximate seating capacities for various sizes of Crenosphere Domes.

Crenosphere Size		Seating Capacity**
Diameter	Height	Football	Soccer	Baseball	Hockey	Basketball	Concert
400 ft	100 ft	8,000	8,000		20,00	24,000	25,000
450 ft	112 ft	16,000	16,000		35,000	40,000	41,000
500 ft	125 ft	24,000	24,000	20,000
600 ft	150 ft	50,000	50,000	30,000

**Typical seating capacity. Actual capacity varies greatly depending on seating configuration. This table is for Crenospheres up to 600 feet diameter, approximately the size of the Astro Dome in Houston, Texas. However, Crenospheres may be built as large as 1000 feet.

July 30, 2008

The Monolithic Crenosphere Dome

A dream come true!

The Crenosphere's Advantages

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