Desert Dome
Desert Dome



COST: $31.5 million (includes Desert Dome and Kingdoms of the Night)

OPENED: April 2002

The Desert Dome will open daily at 9 a.m.

The world's largest indoor desert, the Desert Dome, located under the world's largest glazed geodesic dome has become a landmark of Omaha. The Desert Dome features plant and animal life from three deserts of the world: the Namib Desert of southern Africa, the Red Center of Australia and the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States. The Desert Dome contains 84,000 square feet on two levels (42,000 square feet on each level). Located beneath the Desert Dome exhibit is the Kingdoms of the Night, the world's largest nocturnal exhibit.


Mechanical Facts of the Desert Dome

The world's largest glazed geodesic dome stands 13 stories tall. The top of the dome is 137 feet above the main level. Although the building is 230 feet in diameter spanning over one acre, there are no support columns except the outer wall. Geodesic is defined as a dome pattern of triangles that provide a strong structure. A gutter system, on the outside of the dome, is connected to two, 20,000 gallon underground storage tanks for the collection of rainwater. This water is used for watering the plants inside.

Perfect Panel Placement

The 1,760 tinted acrylic panels, are three different shades as well as clear, providing maximum shade in the summer and maximum light in the winter. A computer program simulated the height of the sun during the spring, summer, fall and winter to determine the location of the panels. The darkest panels at the top provide shade from intense sunlight. The clearest panels are located on the sides to allow for more light in the winter when the sun is low in the sky. The shading of the dome panels also assist with energy conservation.

Amazing Architectural and Mechanical Features

The Desert Dome contains more than 500,000 pounds of steel reinforcement. The building contains over 10,000 tons of concrete in the ringwall and structural slab, that is enough to pour a 4 " concrete slab over 6 1/2 football fields. At the top of the dome is a 36' x 16'6" mechanical headhouse that contains the heat recovery units. Heat is reclaimed in the winter to help warm the Dome. In the summer, exhaust louvers expel hot air. Excess moisture is pulled out through the exhaust fans at the top of the Dome. The 44'6" diameter concrete floor of the headhouse is 12" thick to muffle any mechanical noise.