Like so many other home builders, my wife, Sherrie, and I needed a quickly and easily built shelter to live in while our permanent house was being constructed... but we wanted one that was sturdy enough—and of a suitable design—to be used later as a workshop, small barn, or guest house. It had to be inexpensive, since most of our funds had gone into a down payment on our land; but with winter coming on, it also had to be warm and windtight. The question was, what could we put together with these qualifications?

A neighbor's garage, built with Starplate connectors, was our inspiration. After a speculative look at the triangular walls, Sherrie decided that the pentagon-shaped dome (actually a truncated icosahedron having fifteen sides) had potential as a heat-efficient, cozy home with a loft.

Now, the loft idea was intriguing, but, as far as I knew, Starplate buildings weren't designed to be fifteen feet high, allowing for two floors. The eleven steel plates that come in the kit are designed to bolt to the ends of six-foot 2 X 2's or eight-foot 2 X 4's. Could they handle ten-foot 2 X 6's?