Tent, pod, or building? The distinction that decides everything
Search for a resort dome and you will find three different products sold under overlapping names. They are not comparable, and the difference is not finish quality — it is what the thing actually is.
| Measure | Fabric dome / geodesic tent | Timber glamping pod | Engineered shell (this system) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Frame with tensioned fabric skin | Timber frame, small footprint | Steel or laminated timber gridshell with panelised shell |
| Envelope | Single or lined fabric | Conventional stud build-up | Continuous insulated build-up, 180 – 320 mm |
| Thermal | Minimal; heated and cooled continuously | Moderate | U 0.15 – 0.30 W/m²K, roof and wall |
| Acoustic | Low — external noise passes through | Moderate | Rw 38 – 48 dB |
| Footprint | Typically small, fixed sizes | Typically small, fixed sizes | 80 – 1,200 m² per unit |
| Permanence | Temporary; fabric replaced periodically | Semi-permanent | Permanent building |
| Consent | Often temporary or exempt | Varies | Treated as a building |
A fabric dome is a good product for what it is: fast, cheap, removable, and genuinely appealing in a mild season. It is not a building. In a climate with a real summer or a real winter, the operating cost of conditioning a fabric envelope year-round is the number that eventually ends the experiment.
If you want a tent, buy a tent. This system is for owners and operators who have decided they are building permanent accommodation and want it to be a curved form rather than a rectangle.
- Footprint per unit
- 80 – 1,200 m²
- W/m²K, roof and wall
- U 0.15 – 0.30
- Airborne sound reduction
- Rw 38 – 48 dB
- Installation
- 10 – 24 weeks
Why the envelope decides the operating cost
U 0.15 – 0.30 W/m²K, roof and wall. The lower end of that range is a high-performance envelope by any standard; where a project sits within it is set by the climate and the local energy code. On resort accommodation it matters more than on most buildings, for a reason specific to the sector: the units are conditioned continuously, often year-round, and frequently on a site where energy is expensive or generated locally.
A resort unit is not an office that switches off at seven. It runs whenever it is occupied, and in a hot climate it runs hard. The envelope is the part of the building that reduces that load permanently and without maintenance.
Two things about curved shells specifically:
Thermal bridging is harder to avoid, and more important to get right. Curved shells make thermal bridging harder to avoid, so insulation and vapour control are detailed as continuous layers across the whole surface rather than as separate roof and wall systems meeting at a junction. On a sphere there is no junction — which is an advantage, provided the build-up is designed as one thing.
Condensation risk moves. A continuous curved envelope has no cold eaves or cold corners in the usual places, but its internal face is a single unbroken surface. Vapour control on that surface has to be continuous too, and every penetration — services, ventilation, fixings — is a deliberate detail rather than something resolved on site.
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Roof meets wall Separate roof and wall systems meet at a junction, and every junction is a thermal bridge to be detailed.
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Curved shell Insulation and vapour control run round the whole surface as one layer, with no roof-to-wall junction. What is left to detail is every penetration — services, ventilation, fixings.
Schematic: it shows continuity, not a build-up. The build-up on this system is 180 – 320 mm overall, and where the vapour control layer sits depends on the climate.
Rw 38 – 48 dB is the envelope's airborne sound reduction. It governs how much of the outside gets in: road noise, wind, plant, the next unit's terrace. Where the target sits in that range depends on how close the units are, what is around them, and the local standard — it is set per project rather than assumed.
The site decides the building
This is the part that surprises resort developers, and it is why the specification should be read before the architecture is fixed.
Transport: 2,400 × 12,000 mm maximum by road
That is the hard constraint, and it governs the panelisation of the whole building. Module sizes are set by what can reach the site, particularly on remote resort locations.
A coastal or mountain site is reached by a road that was not built for this. Before panel sizes are decided, someone has to establish the real limit: the tightest bend, the lowest bridge, the weakest culvert, the permit regime for oversized loads. That figure then sets the module, the module sets the panel set, and the panel set influences the geometry.
- 1 · The road sets the limit The tightest bend, the lowest bridge, the weakest culvert, the permit regime for oversized loads.
- 2 · The limit sets the module No more than 2,400 × 12,000 mm by road — and the real limit on a remote route may be lower.
- 3 · The module sets the panel set …and the panel set influences the geometry of the building.
Module and trailer drawn to scale.
Establish the transport route before the design is fixed, not after. It is the single most common cause of redesign on remote-site projects.
Ground: pad, raft or screw pile
A lighter envelope reduces foundation loads, which matters on sloping, coastal or poor ground — exactly the sites resorts are built on, because those are the sites with the view.
Screw piles deserve particular mention on this kind of project. They are driven rather than excavated, which means no spoil, minimal disturbance to vegetation and root systems, and — relevant on protected or leased land — they can be removed and the ground reinstated. On sites where consent depends on reversibility or on minimal ground disturbance, that is sometimes the difference between a scheme that is permitted and one that is not.
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Pad A discrete footing under each point that carries load. Excavated and cast.
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Raft One slab under the whole unit, spreading its load across the ground.
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Screw pile Driven rather than dug: no spoil, little disturbance to roots, and it can be removed and the ground reinstated.
Access and craneage
The same road that limits module size limits the crane. On steep or soft ground, crane standing positions may be the thing that decides where units can go. This is worth surveying early, because a unit that cannot be craned into position is a unit that has to be redesigned or relocated.
Season: installation in 10 – 24 weeks
Installation runs 10 – 24 weeks depending on scale and access. For an operator that period is not a construction programme — it is delayed revenue, and it usually has to fit between seasons.
Two consequences worth planning for:
- Prefabrication is what protects the window. The shell is built in the factory and assembled on site. Less site work means fewer weather days and a shorter closure.
- Multiple units phase. Where a resort is adding several units, they can be delivered in sequence so that part of the site trades while the rest is built. That has to be designed into the sequence from the start.
Structure: steel or laminated timber
Steel or laminated timber gridshell with panelised shell, at footprints of 80 – 1,200 m² per unit — from a single accommodation unit to a restaurant, reception or wellness building.
Both structural options work; they suit different projects.
Laminated timber suits units where the structure is seen. It is lighter to transport and to lift, it performs well in the humid coastal conditions many resorts sit in, and the carbon argument is real and often matters to the operator's positioning. It needs protection detailing at every exposed junction.
Steel suits larger footprints, heavier finishes, higher wind or seismic demand, and cases where the structure is concealed. It reaches the longer spans in the range.
The choice is usually made on span, finish and how visible the structure is, and it should be made before the panel set is developed — the two are not independent. The engineering of the gridshell itself — panelisation, node geometry, tolerance — is covered under free-form structures.
Openings in a curved surface
Windows and doors in a curved surface need their own geometry. Standard rectangular units rarely resolve cleanly.
This is the most common cost surprise on curved-form buildings, and it is worth being blunt about. A rectangular window placed in a curved wall meets it along a line that is not flat. Something has to give:
- Flatten the surface locally around the opening — a planar facet in the shell. Cleanest structurally, changes the exterior form.
- Curve the opening to follow the surface. Best-looking, most expensive, and the glazing unit has to be made for it.
- Set the opening in a dormer or projection. Traditional, adds envelope area and junctions.
- Design the opening as part of the geometry from the start — shaped openings that belong to the curve rather than fighting it. Cheapest and best, and only possible if it is decided early.
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Flatten the surface locally A planar facet in the shell. Cleanest structurally; it changes the exterior form.
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Curve the opening The glazing follows the surface. Best-looking and most expensive — the unit is made for it.
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A dormer or projection Traditional. It adds envelope area and junctions.
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Shaped to the geometry Openings that belong to the curve from the start. Cheapest and best — if it is decided at concept.
Only the last of those saves money, and only if it is decided at concept. A scheme that locates rectangular windows on a curved shell late in design will pay for the decision three times: in glazing, in structure, and in the weathering detail around each one.
External finish
GRC, render, single-ply membrane, timber, or standing-seam metal.
The choice is made on environment and on how the building should read:
- GRC is moulded to the curve and gives a solid, masonry-like reading. Heavier, and its panel joints are set out on the surface as part of the design.
- Render on a curved shell is continuous and monolithic; specification and substrate movement matter more than on a flat wall.
- Single-ply membrane is the most tolerant of complex double curvature and the most economical on a highly sculptural form. Reads as a surface rather than as a material.
- Timber on a curved surface means either narrow boards following the curve or a faceted approach. Beautiful; needs a maintenance commitment the operator should agree to in advance.
- Standing-seam metal handles single curvature very well and double curvature with more difficulty. Long service life, low maintenance.
In coastal and desert environments the finish decision is a durability decision first. Salt spray, UV and wind-blown sand are harder on a finish than anything a temperate site will do, and they are exactly where resorts are built.
What to decide, and when
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Feasibility
The site, the number of units, and the road that reaches it. Whether consent treats the units as permanent buildings. The trading seasons that define the installation window.
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Concept
Footprint per unit and the mix. Structural material — steel or timber. The external finish, at least in category. Whether openings will be shaped to the geometry or set into it.
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Developed design
Transport route survey and the module size that follows from it. Ground investigation and the foundation type. Envelope build-up, U-value and acoustic targets. Crane positions.
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Before fabrication
A fixed panel set, a confirmed transport route and a confirmed crane strategy. On a remote site these three are the project. Everything else can be adjusted; these cannot, once fabrication starts.