About :: History

Dome creator Geoff Garratt first made a geodesic dome in 1975. this put him on a learning curve that continues to this day. The strength, simplicity and aesthetic appeal of the structures made him determined to develop their use. The first domes he made were wooden frames with plastic, glass or timber cladding. He discovered the 'modes of failure' - the ways that these structures fail under extreme conditions. This lead him to develop components designed to better withstand the stresses and strains of geodesic structures. During the eighties and nineties he explored the maths of nonspherical geodesic domes, writing computer programs to crunch the numbers and even developed a basic 3d CAD program to visualise and design these domes. The constraints of the planning authorities, drove the work into designing and manufacturing temporary structures of metal and canvas for hire as 'Geodome' marquees. This also led to greater understanding of the structures' strengths and weaknesses. The sale of the dome marquee hire business in 2007 has enabled Geoff to steer the business back towards designing and developing domes as self-trussing roofs for buildings with more conventional, vertical walls. While creating timber framed, domed structures for use as 'Polydomes', cabins and larger buildings, he is currently working on a design system which uses a compound strut which will allow greater spans with only marginal weight increases.