Desert Dome (Omaha, NE USA)
CITY: Omaha, Ne USA
HEIGHT: 41 meters (137 feet)
ARCHITECTS: Stanley J. How and Associates
YEAR BUILT: 2002
FLOORS: 13
The world's largest indoor desert, the Desert Dome, located under the world's largest glazed geodesic dome, features plant and animal life from three deserts around the world. The 13-story dome is currently the world’s largest indoor desert exhibit at nearly 84,000 square feet spread over two levels. The interior includes a sand waterfall, a 50-foot mountain, canyons, a cactus forest, desert flora and fauna, and various animal exhibits. The subterranean level showcases spaces for indoor nocturnal exhibitions. The structure, a geodesic dome 160 feet in diameter and 137 feet tall, shows the influences of Buckminster Fuller’s principles. Composed of 1,760-quarter inch-thick, acrylic, triangular-shaped panels, the glazed dome is anchored on a 32-foot reinforced concrete ring wall clad in stone. The slabs and ring wall are made of 10,000 tons of concrete and 250 tons of reinforcing steel. Inside the dome, more than 2,000 linear feet of masonry walls enclose animal exhibits, keeper rooms, and holding areas.