Curvatecture's Online SuperAdobe Dome Calculator Guide

It's finally here! After years of work, we've finally put forward our first version of a calculator specifically designed to help estimate the amount of SuperAdobe Bag, Barbed Wire, and Fill Material to complete a dome of any size.
It also features foundation and buttress rows within the formula, for more specific calculations.
Let us know what you think! We can't wait to see what you all use it for!
Programmed by Erica Smith, original Excel Sheet by Marcus Chatto.
Assistance and consultation by Calearth crew, including Mark Harmon.
www.Curvatecture.com, under the services tab.

[@alb2571]

Awesome job! Thank you all for your efforts to make this available to us. Just yesterday was I looking into it and have to say this explains a few of my questions over the red exclamation marks in the program. Thanks again.

[@flaucharo]

gracias por tu trabajo, tu tiempo para explicar todo, soy de argentina y estamos con ganas de empezar a construir en superadobe. Asi que le estamos metiendo muchas ganas y tus videos me estan inspirando.

[@TakoToli]

This is just what I needed. We are starting our project in the spring and this is the perfect tool. Thank you for this.

[@raydrapela634]

Nice. Here in USA we not only use imperial measurements for dome diameters but also for bags. Also the length of the bag varies. But very useful. Thanks

[@jamisonlee9611]

How does a dome do in cold climates with snow, as well as freeze/thaw cycles?

[@mysticwellreiki]

Thank you so much for the calculator, this is tremendously helpful.

[@curvatecture]

No worries! Did it work well for you?

[@kanounesamy713]

Thank you from Tunisia

[@Agogogogogogkglgkfndjesk]

Thank you for the valuable information. This may be helpful in the future.

[@touaregdj]

Thanks for this I was looking for it I m from Morocco

[@curvatecture]

Glad I could help :)

[@The.End.Begins24]

This is really cool. I'm buying land soon and this is how I want to built.

[@reggyel]

Muy buen trabajo, lástima que no está disponible la página para calcular diámetros y demás conceptos X(

[@dlshyamdas]

Muchas gracias, excelente video!

[@Kbarboza94]

Thank you so much for this!!

[@juanvalencia5949]

Thank you for the video

[@jakehill9127]

So great mate! Well done!

[@jezdog3000]

you are a legend! im going to attend a workshop for sure :D

[@PeterWest70]

What type of structure can anyone recommend for dessert region AND how to maximize the dessert soil at the site-- thanks

[@shyamsoni3412]

very very useful thank u

[@VicenteRaimundo]

Onde consigo acesso a esta calculadora?

[@carldaniels4827]

do the earth bags deteriorate? any floor plans other than oval with connecting pods?

[@efrahome]

Hi man very nice information! I have a question, I’ve seen a couple of videos here and there about superadobe homes buildings but instead of a dome its a square, could you provide some info?

[@richardhawkins2248]

I noticed there is a difference between your numbers and calearth.org re bag size and max dome height. They say you can build a twelve foot on down with 14" tubing and your calculator says the max size is an eight foot dome. Since I'm about to begin a project and it will go quickly once I start I thought I'd ask. I'm in the process of locating tubing as I begin the drawings. Now that I'm retired I can throw all of my time into it.

[@Ya.Seen.]

Thank you very much!

[@blinkite7246]

Great info thank you. I've heard somewhere that the Superadobe houses are more efective if they're circular but with a flat roof and not a dome. Also is it true there is a high risk of falling when built on high raining zones? Is there a good water proof material it can be used to help prevent this? I'm in fact in search of the most economical and eco friendly country living home, which one would you say, us the best one? Thank you 😊

[@curvatecture]

Hi there, It is a great idea to combine SuperAdobe and a standard roof, it removes most of the water penetration issues. The dome wont collapse, it's just going to get wet and mouldy if it leaks :) You can use man-made, chemical based products which are great, or a high level of plastering skill and a special recipe will get you out of trouble hopefully. SuperAdobe and Earthbag building is incredibly cheap, if you can do most of the labor yourself with friends. You'll need appropriate soils as well, to save on buying in material. Thanks for your interest!

[@thiasosnovak6350]

hey! I was so hyped watching this video but I can't find the calculator on the website :(

[@KevinNMurphy]

www.curvatecture.com/superadobe-dome-calculator

[@curvatecture]

Did you find it? Glad you found it exciting :)

[@pavnowak]

@@curvatecture If it's meant to be it's meant to be! Just this morning I received an email from a company on my island that wishes to give our cultural association 2000 meters of mesh bags for our Hyper Adobe project...and to top that off you guys also put up the dome calculator!💕 What can I say

[@paolovergari3075]

GREAT MAN!!!!

[@wasimhbaig]

Would the calculations be any different for hyperadobe?

[@curvatecture]

I don’t believe so. Hyperadobe in a dome form would behave quite differently (we’ve never built with it yet) so I’d suggest oversizing your bags to the next size up at least, as the netting bags would have much less stability than the closed woven poly bags. Are you hoping to build one?

[@BBCRon]

Great work, thanks a lot. I'm pretending to design a dome house with a max diameter of 4.5m, I was designing it in Revit with a relation of 1 Diameter to 1 Height, I was wondering, about the height of the foundation, The principal internal forces to control are the horizontal forces at the bottom, so if the foundation is deeper that force can be contained by the soil, nevertheless, should I consider the buttressing but I'm not sure about the height of this one, some info says that this should be at least 45cm above the spring line, maybe this estimation is too much. Thanks from Southamerica - Bolivia!

[@andycoldwell7345]

Congrats on this tool man! Really slick. I like the fill calculator, but one thing I need to research more is what the fill make up should be. How do you know to add gravel or cement? If anyone has suggestions, let me know! Otherwise, looking forward to digging in some more.

[@curvatecture]

Hi there :) It very much depends on what soil you have available to you, and it's properties. But a great starting mix is somewhere around 70%sand, 20% gravel, and 10% binder of some sort (clay, lime, or cement). But those percentages have lots of flex and can change dramatically. Thanks for wathcing!

[@jnnnnkc]

Hola, Cuántos metros de polipropileno se necesita para un domo de 5 metros de diámetro, y cuantos centímetros por hilera se reduce a medida que sube la fila. Gracias

[@arturoperez917]

Megusta mucho los domos echos con tierra

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

i wana make a dome with a catenary arch (hanging chain) design. got any ideas to calculate that?

[@curvatecture]

Hmmmm yes good thinking. The geometry of those arches is obviously different, but you could plot the arc in a table on Excel, and figure out a similar formula. If you're interested in some consultancy to get it done we'd be open to that. Feel free to email [e-mail]. It not a proven geometry either, so I'd be aware of that, but if you used oversised bags that would help, especially at the top where the curve flattens out. Thanks for your interest!

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

@@curvatecture thank you.

[@IronMan-yg4qw]

@@curvatecture thx man

[@silveriasaucedohernandez9302]

Podrías poner subtítulos para los que no sabemos hablar inglés? Por favor!!!

[@azarelthecreator7098]

Why in the world would they have this calculator setup to run on inches forcing an extra conversion step.

[@curvatecture]

Thats a fair point, something we also want to change. Thanks for the feedback

[@ludokerfluffle6232]

3.6m is 12ft.

[@seanoshea5269]

Do you live in an abode house mate?

[@solomonktl6]

dot see oh emm? really?

[@curvatecture]

curvatecture.com yall :)