Contact | The Mojave Center

Build
a dome

Hire the Mojave Center to

build on your land!

We are very ecstatic to begin hosting builds offsite of our Mojave Center location as a way to give back to our surrounding community and previous students that have taken workshops with us. Hosting builds off site allows us to keeping sharing the knowledge around natural building to communities beyond our own network, therefore continuing to share our mission of utilizing natural elements in our everyday lives for sustainable living & building.

Demand for domes is high!

Booking workshop domes for Fall 2026

We organize:

workshoppers, set up jobsite and put workshop on our schedule

We must be selective on:

desirable location for workshoppers to travel to and we need the host (you) to be competent and all hands on.

Investment:

Instructor pay - $650/day + travel

You cover all material costs

**Must attend a full dome workshop in person first.**

workshop Format

Project Manager

Just looking for someone to run your build?

5 day hire minimum

Booking anytime - no prequisites

You organize:

Volunteers, jobsite, build materials

We arrive & run the jobsite:

$450/day + travel

$800 booking deposit

Build

Breakdown

Building Sizes & Expectations

Our typical offsite workshops tend to be 7 days in length to achieve building a 10ft diameter dome in the bagging & structural phase. This is the timeline for using a 14 or 15” wide earthbag.

We choose 10ft and below because once you go above 10ft in diameter you need to use a larger bag size as well as extra bagging around the base for extra structural support. This adds extra time to the projected timeline and cost.*

*We can build larger sizes however each specific build will varying timelines and costs/workshop formats.

Estimated Timeline to Build

in the structural phase:

10ft dome - 7 days

12ft dome - 10 days

14ft dome- 15 days

10 & 8ft double dome - 10 days

Any workshop over 7 days will require “rest” days. We will need places for people to rest in isolation as being in social environments for long periods of time is exhausting. For longer workshops we require more comfortable living situations on-site rather than our 7 day "dome camp" structure.

If you are looking to combine more than 2 domes together this will need much more coordination and longer timelines.

All timeline estimates above are for the structural building phase only. This means the bagging portion/wall structure. Plasters, electrical, plumbing, doors, and window installation are not included in these timelines.

Day rate for project manager is $450 per day per intructor. Day rate for "host a Workshop format" is $650 per day.

A 10ft dome takes 7 days of instructor coordination to compete.

Flights/Travel for instructors is to be covered and purchased by you.

You are responsible for purchasing all of the materials needed to build the dome: bag, cement, gravel, mixers, tools etc

Power & water must be on-site already.

A more detailed list is below!

We can assist in guidance of materials and where to purchase the bags from.

Pricing for all materials is location dependent

Investment

Pre-requisites:

To host a workshop format build on your land, we require you to attend a full dome workshop prior to hosting on your own land. This is so you know the building process, logistical undertaking required to host your own build, and the basic accommodations for workshoppers to be on your land.

Examples

Casita

Starting at $25,000

with finishes; plaster, doors, windows, basic electrical

For Bagging portion only - starting $18,000

10' + 8' diameter domes with hallway connection

Estimate 5 weeks for completion in two separate building phases

Prices are a starting estimate on what we would charge to build this on your property. Most of the cost is due to labor. Price estimates below include material cost and labor. Added design features such as window designs, door styles and interior details are add ons.

Mini Dome

Starting at $16,000

with finishes; plaster, doors, windows, basic electrical

Bagging portion only - starting $9,200

10' diameter dome

Estimate 3 weeks of time for completion in two seperate building phases

Grande Dome

Starting at $55,000

with finishes; plaster, doors, windows, basic electrical

For bagging portion only - starting $42,000

15' Diameter Dome

(photos show 15' examples attached to other structures)

Estimate 3 months for completion in 3 separate building phases

Design
& coordination

We will draw up design plans & ideas with layouts to choose from.
A "rough budget" plan and materials price list will be sent over adjusted to your desired dome size & design.

Design

10' + 8' Art Studio Dome

10ft Diameter Dome Materials Price List Estimate:

Prices vary on location

The larger the dome, the more materials you will need.

-1/2 ton of 3/4" gravel (call local gravel yard : about $100)

-30 bags of 80lb concrete ($180 at $6/bag)

-14 or 15" Earthbag roll ($1200)

-will have plenty extra after build enough to build another dome.

- Barbed wire (qty 2 @ $140 = $280)

- 12ft tall 1-1/2" Compass pole ($50)

-Wood for door forms ($100)

Wood for 2 window forms ($100)

-Mixer ($300)

-Water and Electricity Onsite

-Wheelbarrows, buckets, Shovels etc.

-1 instructors ($650/day for 9 days- $5200

(7 work days, 1 prep day, 1 clean up day )

Travel for instructors - $400

Materials Estimate Total for building

a 10ft dome (no plasters) : $9,210

Materials LIst

We do not pull permits on dome workshops.
We can help assist in anyway we can by supplying the drawings and layout plans for an additional cost, but we will not pull the permit for you.
We tend to stick to under 120sqft builds (location dependent) so we don't have to pull permits and the dome is an accessory unit.
If you'd like to pull a permit you will need to hire a structural engineer for your permitting process.
Call your local building inspector/code enforcer for more permitting information.