For some time we've been looking for a way to enjoy being outside without having to endure the unpredictable weather here in Scotland. It's often too cold, or too windy (or both) to sit outside and comfortably enjoy a drink or a meal, and with a Covid-19 imposed lock-down in full swing, we knew we'd be spending more time at home trying to do more outdoor living.
We'd considered a garden room or summer house type building already, but it didn't really tick all the boxes, especially having the feeling that you were sat outside protected from the elements, rather than sat in a posh shed. We'd also considered other dome type structures, ones that you build yourself out of wood and greenhouse plastic, but they just wouldn't stand up to the wind, and stories of having to replace the plastic every year didn't fill me with confidence.
Then we discovered Hypedome!
Hypedome is a frameless and transparent dome made from strong and sustainable polycarbonate panels (the same type of material used for safety glass windows) and when you're inside, it truly feels like you're still sat in the garden. The big difference being that you're now protected from the cold wind and rain! Just a tiny bit of sun will warm it up nicely in the day, and with an electric heater (or a blanket) we can easily sit out late watching the stars or enjoying the long summer evenings, when normally we'd have moved inside.
It's also very adaptable. We decided to use it for outdoor seating and eating outside, but it could quite easily be used as a garden gym, a pool or hot tub cover or a children's play space. It can be moved too, so if you don't like the initial location, it's possible to re-position it or even take it down.
Of course we were initially concerned about how it would cope with the strong winds we get here, but a recent (and unseasonable) windy spell, proved it was going to cope very well. The winds that day were gusting 40mph so I'm not so worried about the winter storms which can be double that - Incidentally, dome shapes and dome structures are one of the best for windy locations because the wind simply flows around them, rather than pushing on one side - It's possible to anchor the dome to a wooden deck using screws (provided) or to soft ground using pegs (also provided). Since ours is positioned on a stone patio, we used heavy platers to ballast the dome and it's super stable and very rigid.
Building the dome took us about 6 hours with 2 people, and if you can follow simple instructions, you'Il be able to build it. If you're interested, you can follow our Hypedome build on YouTube
* New video: "1 year on" https://youtu.be/s7bkmKMmvy4
#StayAtDome
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| It may be cold in the evening, but you can still enjoy dinner in the garden dome! |
