Omnidome Theater at the Kirkpatrick Science Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Omnidome Theater, at the Kirkpatrick Center in northeast Oklahoma City, is geometrically complex.  The aluminum geodesic dome roof structure, which is covered in pre-assembled double-skin plywood “sandwich panels” and a factory-painted exterior aluminum skin, sits on the cast-in-place, exposed concrete substructure at a 30°  angle.  While the dome structure is semi-spherical in shape, the concrete substructure is actually octagonal in plan.  When these two elements meet on the 30° angled plane of the bearing surface of the concrete substructure, the oval shape of the sliced dome fits inside of the elongated octagon formed by the exterior concrete walls of the substructure.

In addition to the dome structure, this building also contains a double-pitched glass skylight along the entire length of the lobby area and between the glass window walls at each end of the lobby.  The theater which is housed by this building is a spherical-screen IMAX-type theater with seating for approximately 250 people.

Construction Cost:  $3.6 million
Completion:  2000
Architect:  Kerr3 Design Group

Photos courtesy Roger Bondy