Heliodome, carved by the sun
Heliodome is a bioclimatic concept that surprises by its form as well as by its performance.
What if the lines of your building followed the course of the sun? That idea was born from the brain of Eric Wasser, a furniture designer, in the late 190ies. Mr Wasser is always looking for original forms. In this case, for an habitat fully integrated in its environment and which shape is guided by the nature.
Heliodome is a passive solar house, architectural a fixed volume determined by the path of the sun in its annual and day cycle. The building follows the sunlight depending on latitude. The south side, a large bay window follows the summerly sun path, while the north face does the same with the wintery path, protecting from the heat in summer and storing maximum solar gains in winter for optimal comfort.
The first prototype was built in 2008. It is a building of 208 sqm large. The frame is fabricated locally, supporting on local companies. It stands on a concrete base to ensure good thermal inertia. Solar panels on the edge of the roof supply hot water system. This positioning allows to avoid solar panels to overheat, a common issue in the summer.
With this concept, Heliodome reached a nice compacity of the building, allowing multiple variations through other forms, such as an urban house extension or a small residential subdivisions, without any adjoining issues; but also for offices or leisure lodges (cottages, bungalows, etc ...).
3 Héliodomes have been delivered already and 2 are about to be completed. While bioclimatic design and passive solar gains are highly sought after, this integrated solution has a rosy ahead of it.