Copper Dome House is a “Puzzling” Garden Home

You can tell at first glance that the Dome House is not a typical home. Its rounded form and ultra modern materials give it a delightful and unusual appeal. But upon further inspection, this garden home in the suburbs of Melbourne is utterly one of a kind. You see, <a href="http://www.mcbridecharlesryan.com.au/#/projects/dome-house/">McBride Charles Ryan</a>, the architects that designed the residence, wanted it to be "like a giant puzzle whose components ranged from the large to the infinitesimally small." They then removed some of those pieces to leave blank spaces, resulting in a home that is truly more than the sum of its parts - especially because it also incorporates some smart water and <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/energy">energy saving</a> techniques.  

The design concept of Dome House was to take a copper sphere, bury it in the ground and divvy it up into many varied slices.

Then some fragments were removed while others remained so that the house could open up in the middle creating a unique and intimate relationship with the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/gardening">garden</a>.

"This strategy, though conceptually simple, had a limitless and joyous experiential complexity," <a href="http://www.mcbridecharlesryan.com.au/#/projects/dome-house/">write the architects</a> of the design.

"Such complexity was rigorously informed by the geometry of the sphere."

And the home is as efficient as it is unique.

Rainwater is collected from the copper clad roof by hidden gutters and is stored in rainwater tanks.

The house also utilizes a solar hot <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/water">water </a>system, a drip garden watering system and double glazing to minimize <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/energy">energy</a> usage.

The architects have also taken special care to make sure all of these green features are concealed so that they don't take away from the house's visual appeal.

The Dome House under construction.

One of the Dome House's spacious bathrooms.