A brief history of the SOLARDOME® glasshouse

In the 1960s NATO developed an early warning radar system. They asked the Buckminster Fuller organisation to design and develop giant golf ball radar domes. In Europe these were placed in Filingdales, North Yorkshire, UK.

These giant domes had to withstand extreme winds and storms and yet remain unaffected.

An ex German U-boat engineer living in North Yorkshire was fascinated by these domes and thought, "If they can withstand these weather conditions then they would make an ideal domestic garden building, greenhouse or garden conservatory".

He explored the Buckminster Fuller Geodesic domes and their principles and then designed and manufactured the first European domestic Geodesic dome, a 14' 6'' SOLARDOME® glasshouse 2.

It was from these early days that with improvements and changes to construction methods our SOLARDOME® glasshouses have evolved into a range of buildings suitable for many applications.

The first SOLARDOME® glasshouse was produced in 1969 and the company is now in its 40th year and is a world expert in small domestic geodesic domes and spheres based on aluminium and glass construction.