The house design can withstand level 5 storms

In 2018, Hurricane Michael made history, becoming the first Category 5 storm to make landfall in northeastern Florida. The storm caused widespread damage, leveled many buildings, and affected nearly 50,000 structures. But in the small Mexican beachfront community of Forida, an unusual dome-shaped house still stands, virtually unaffected by 160 mph winds. The house named “Golden Eye” belongs to Margaret Clayton, who designed and built the project in 2015 with the company Monolithic Domes.

Clayton’s neighbor’s house collapsed, sending a transformer flying into her house and into the wall. “All the houses around me are destroyed or uninhabitable,” Clayton said. Meanwhile, Golden Eye remained intact.

In the United States, hurricanes cause more deaths and damage than any other extreme weather event. Since 1980, there have been 363 weather disasters costing billions of dollars, and hurricanes caused the heaviest damage, totaling more than $1.3 trillion, with an average cost of $22.8 billion per event. In 2023, storms killed 6,890 people. In a situation where storms are rapidly intensifying due to climate change, even level one storms can cause serious damage, building storm-resistant houses becomes increasingly important.

“Climate-resilient architecture combined with the right engineering solutions can help save lives in the face of extreme weather,” said Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, associate professor in the department of civil engineering and architecture. and environment of the University of Miami, said. “We need to explore how to build climate-resistant structures because we know there are certain types that are better for certain environments.”

There are a few construction companies that focus their attention on arches and circles. That’s the design that American construction company Deltec has focused on for the past three decades in its efforts to build storm-resistant homes. Of the 5,500 dome- and circular-shaped houses the company has built, only one was damaged by strong winds, according to Deltec data, and the rest remained strong despite facing some of the strongest storms in history. including Irma, Michael, Katrina, Dorian and most recently Milton. Interest in the company’s domed housing has increased in recent years, according to Deltec president Steve Linton.

The circular shape helps the house increase its aerodynamics. According to Linton, the circular design results in significantly less pressure buildup on the exterior of the house. This design also helps the house absorb and distribute energy better than traditional houses, regardless of wind direction.

The domed shape also has an advantage because the house does not block the surrounding air flow. “A conventional house with a box-like edge and flat roof creates an obstacle to wind flow. When the house is round, it receives less force from the wind,” explains Rhode-Barbarigos. “They are not affected by the strong winds we often experience during storms.”

Deltec also builds homes with American yellow pine, a material that is stronger than other commonly used woods such as Douglas hazel. The structure is also precisely designed and built at the factory. Deltec has built homes in all 50 US states and more than 30 countries around the world.

But Deltec isn’t the only company building roundhouses. The first Monolithic Dome was built in 1976 as a potato storage warehouse in Idaho. Today, domes are found all over the world, from the Arctic to the tropics. Monolithic Dome’s houses are not built from wood but from concrete and steel, starting with the ring beams on the building’s floor. A layer of PVC-coated fabric membrane is attached to the ring beam and inflated to shape the structure. Polyfoam foam, famous for its hardness and water resistance, is coated on the inside of the film, while steel reinforcement is attached to the foam surface, then sprayed with multiple layers of concrete called shotcrete.