The Tropical Display Dome is a 28m diameter, 9m high geodesic glasshouse possibly inspired from a patented design from June 29, 1854 by R Fuller. The Brisbane Botanic Gardens opened in 1976 about 7km from Brisbane's CBD at the base of Mount Coot-tha and is set in 138 acres (50+ Ha).
Cropped part of sign in the glasshouse, original design, June 1854
Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Tropical dome
"Our ark is the air, water, land
and all the species of plants and animals,
including ourselves are the crew.
How can we be so blind as to continue
our acts of sabotage."
Gerald Durrell
'You are standing inside another ark, a geodesic dome that encloses and protects the rare, fragile and exotic plants growing here. The dome is made of tinted acrylic bubble panels in an aluminium frame - a miniature spaceship Earth.
'Wet tropical plants need a humid, warm and stable environment to flourish. Climatic conditions and nutrient levels within the dome are monitored and corrected as needs arise.
'The dome is designed so that the temperature ranges between 24 - 28°C, humidity variation is around 2%. Even the soil is special, a sterile mix of sand, peat moss and soil.' [ex-sign in the dome]
Geodesic: The shortest distance between two points on a curved surface. A geodesic on a sphere is an arc of a great circle, a great circle being a circle on a sphere whose plane passes through the centre of the sphere. (Buckminster Fuller)
Address: Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, 152 Mount Coot-Tha Road, Mount Coot-Tha, QLD, 4066, Australia
* Hours *
Apr - Aug: 8am - 5pm;
Sep - Mar: 8am - 5pm
Phone: (07) 3403 8888
Visited: 1633, Sunday 24 July, 2022