The Domes of Asia

Over the last 23 years, Geometrica has installed hundreds of domes for commercial and industrial sectors. Whether designed with glass cladding or built of galvanized steel and aluminum, these architectural and industrial applications have, literally, changed the landscape in 30 countries.

Within this vast portfolio are share-worthy regional projects notable for their inherent structural beauty, immense span, and challenging installation. These projects further demonstrate the flexibility of Freedome® technology, which allows full use of interior space — no columns or barriers to disrupt the flow of people, traffic and inventory. Enjoy the following sampling of domes in Asia that demonstrate the flexibility of the Geometrica System.

Shopping

For those who shop in Singapore, the Mustafa Center is open 24-hours a day. The mall is a perfect representation of a multicultural spirit and universal appeal to travelers and locals, alike. On weekends and even holidays, the department store welcomes more than 15,000 customers from all over the globe.

Customers can chose from more than 300,000 items displayed on four levels of fine fabrics, electronic devices, jewels and an eye-catching roof with a restaurant. Crowning it all is a Geometrica dome — an architectural feat of glass cladding and metal sculpture that delights shoppers daily. Geometrica's glass and stainless steel structure serves as an iconic host in an ever-evolving city. Read more about the project in our article, "The Best Shopping Center in Singapore."

Worship

Hulhumale Mosque sits on a beautiful island located in the North Male Atoll, Maldives. As Male's well-known architectural and cultural landmark, the mosque's architecture is unique in the area and immediately recognizable by its spectacular circular dome and minaret tower.

The golden splendor beckons the faithful, while the infrastructure provides a complete worship environment in a multilevel hall. The discipline of order and balance, combined with freedom of form, provides a spacious, peaceful space that can accommodate daily prayers for locals and visitors alike. Read more about our prayer and assembly structures.

Sports

Domed roof of the Kuang Fu Swimming Pool in Taiwan

The roof of the Kuang Fu Swimming Pool in Taiwan exemplifies just one use of geodesic technology. In this case, the pool becomes even more beautiful with a dome overhead. Domes — including retractable versions — can also cover sports stadiums, gymnasiums and community centers. To learn more about domes in the world of sports, visit our Sports Domes section.

Bulk Storage

In comparison, Freedomes® for industrial applications can also be found throughout Asia, from Indonesia to Cambodia to Thailand to Taiwan to The Maldives. These rugged domes, vaults and space frames take advantage of 3-dimensional structural behavior to withstand brutal snow loads, typhoon-force winds, torturous slopes and corrosive saltwater environments. Built of lightweight and strong galvanized steel or aluminum, the tubes are prefabricated using Geometrica's computer-based manufacturing system, barcoded and packaged, then shipped to the job site.

The tubes are connected onsite with patented aluminum hubs. The connection of tubes and hub is compact, simple and very efficient – no welding required. The hub is an extruded aluminum cylinder with several threaded slots. Each tube is flattened at the ends into a pattern that slides into a hub’s slot. When all tubes for a hub have been assembled, the joint is finished with washers and a single bolt. When completed, Geometrica’s patented hub connection is stronger than the tubes themselves.

Freedomes are especially suited for established facilities that need to contain an existing open air stockpile. Siam Cement hired Geometrica in the late 1990's to build a dome in Surat Thani, Thailand — an initial project that segued into a project in Cambodia.

Cambodia is home to Kampot Cement Co. Ltd., the largest cement producer in the country. It was established as a joint venture between Geometrica's prior client, Siam Cement, and Cambodia's top construction and engineering firm, the Khaou Chuly Group. Geometrica is known for its expertise in the enclosure of limestone blending beds and environmentally friendly design, sparing the surrounding landscape from dust and loss of material during the rainy season.

The plant's preblending bed was planned in a circular configuration to hold 25,000 t of limestone (equivalent to 10 days of production for the new plant). Domes help maintain the consistent chemical composition of the quarried raw material before it is fed into the kiln. Design and installation of the Kampot Cement dome was conducted in three languages: English, Thai and Cambodian.

Geodesic domes provide the most efficient shape for a stockpile enclosure because they are lightweight and can span large areas without intermediate supports. The most common dome shape is a segment of a sphere, but it is more economical to use varying radii of curvature for the meridian of the dome. The goal is to have the dome "hug" the clearance line of the stacker-reclaimer. This results in a smaller dome surface area and better clearance for vehicles around the perimeter. With this in mind, Geometrica designed and installed a circular dome for Kampot Cement spanning 86m that now helps facilitate the production capacity of 950,000 tons of cement per year.

Lucky Cement in Taipei, Taiwan manufactures and sells Portland, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, fly ash, and blast-furnace slag cement. The company needed two domes to cover their bulk materials. One required a highly irregular design to accommodate a sprawling stockpile, while the other required a long span of 104m to cover more than 35,000 tons. Both domes were built while the stockpile was in operation — no downtime.

Fertilizer Industry

After carefully considering the fluctuations of the natural-gas market in recent years, PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Pupuk-Kaltim), Indonesia’s largest fertilizer producer, in Bontang, East Kalimantan, launched a project to diversify its fuel with a coal boiler in 2009. In addition to adhering to government policies that encourage the use of coal as a substitute for natural gas, Pupuk-Kaltim executives noted substantial economic benefits.

Geometrica was selected to design and construct a coal storage dome for Indonesia’s largest fertilizer producer, PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (Pupuk-Kaltim). The decision was based on Geometrica's ability to meet very specific logistical and environmental needs. To learn more about this vast project, click here.

IKPT Pupuk Kaltim circular coal storage dome spanning 81m

Power Industry

Any visitor to Kaohsiung Hsien will notice four massive solid fuel silos. When Taiwan’s state-owned Energy Company, Tai Power, decided to expand and cover their raw material stockpiles, they relied on Geometrica's design expertise. The challenge was to design silos that could resist corrosive saltwater spray and typhoon winds. Gibsin Engineers LTD, a specialist company hired by TaiPower, determined that four long span concrete silos with metal dome covers would be required.

Hsin-Ta Station, Tai Power, Taiwan — four circular coal storage domes before and after installation.

Geometrica designed and installed the domes with a “perimeter-in” method of construction: the first nodes and tubes were laid on the supporting concrete wall. Each 3 to 5 tubes were joined to one node forming a “spider.” Each spider was then raised to the work front and tapped into place, creating rings around the base that grew one on top of the other until the whole skeleton was formed. Coordination with other suppliers was easy, as the area under the dome was free of obstacles. Neither scaffolding nor other special equipment were required, and the project was completed with a perfect safety record.

Freedomes are especially suited for established facilities that need to contain an existing open air stockpile. Often the stockyard is surrounded by roads or other buildings, making the construction of a new cover difficult. Geometrica can design a Freedome to fit the pre-existing shape of the area, eliminating the need to relocate the stock pile or build a new facility. All tubes and hub connectors are manufactured and inspected in Geometrica’s ISO-certified facilities. Only Geometrica can provide this kind of versatility and quality assurance.

Global Dome Builder

Geodesic domes are an obvious choice to cover stock piles, yet traditional construction systems for these domes may not translate to a low-cost solution. Manufacturing and construction complexities can offset material savings.

Geometrica has reversed this problem by creating domes that can be:

Designed and prefabricated by computers to withstand brutal snow loads, hurricane force winds, punishing slopes and corrosive saltwater environments
Bar coded, packaged and shipped in small units that can be manually unloaded in remote locations
Assembled by local labor without special equipment or welding
Assembled over a stockpile while the pile remains in operation — no downtime
Custom designed for irregular or sprawling stockpiles and uneven terrain

66m dome for coal storage, Tuntex, Taiwan

Geometrica, Inc.November 14, 2018