PSE was approached by Georges Amir Kunzler, who was having plans designed for a 13 facet Zome. He contacted Alexandre Obermoser a Zome designer who has designed all sorts of Zomes to create his architectural plans. He then was referred from another client of ours and was told that PSE would be the best to accomplish his project. Georges is building his 1400 square foot open concept wood frame Zome located in Northern California.

PSE jumped at the opportunity to be part of this very unique project. Zomes have so many possibilities from a simple small birdhouse, greenhouse or as an additional room. Are you in need of more than 1400 square foot Zome, then simply cluster a few Zomes to create your one of a kind home.

What is a Zome?

The word “Zome” was coined in 1968 by Steve Durkee, combining the words dome and zonohedron. Zomes belong to a family of geometric shapes arranged in a double helix.

Zomes first appeared in the states in the early sixties, with small communities’ popping up in Colorado and New Mexico. One of the first green building opportunities, was a settlement called Drop City outside of Trinidad, Colorado. The settler’s first structure was a geodesic dome, but an innovative engineer designed a structure that was easier to assemble and called it a Zome. In recent years the Zomes have gained traction with French Builders. The simple and compact shape of the Zome leads to a considerable savings of materials.

Types of Zomes

Zomes are not a neutral architectural form but an art form of dynamic symbols that contain diamonds and spirals. The structure is the essence and is one that will hold everything that is attached to it, ensuring the longevity of the your Zome.

Zome crowns are made of identical diamonds according to numbers of facets. Depending on the number of elements in each crown, we get the “order” of Zome. The different facet numbers allow a wide variety of volumes corresponding to the diversity of ground plans or situations.

How do you design a ZOME?

To design a Zome you need take into account several parameters:

• The number of Order (symmetry)
• Determining the number of facets
• Number of levels
• Shape and number of sides within the polygon base

Request a free no obligation quote on your Zome.

As one of the few US-based structural engineering firms focused on green design, we represent the pioneering spirit of trying something new. Please keep an eye out for more Zomes, coming soon.