Ten days, two trips to Hemavan and a sleepless night. The first dome in the Scandinavian Domes Pilot Programme now stands at Hemavan Viewpoint—above the tree line in the mountains of northern Sweden.
Ten days ago, we left Granberget with a trailer full of parts for the first installation in the Scandinavian Domes Pilot Programme 2026–2027. Our destination was Hemavan Viewpoint, high above the tree line with views across the mountains around Hemavan.
We had waited a long time for this moment. For several years, we had designed, calculated, built and tested our domes at home in Granberget. There, we could start again, make changes and improve things at our own pace. Now, for the first time, a Scandinavian Dome would leave our development setting and be built at a real pilot site.
Things did not go quite as planned. We could not drive all the way up to Hemavan Viewpoint, so we had to reload all the materials on the plateau by Restaurant Björk and arrange transport for the final stretch up the mountain. With tremendous help from the team at Hemavan Alpint, we finally got everything in place and began building shortly after six on Wednesday evening.
We had not intended to work through the night. But once we had started, the dome took shape quickly, the weather was on our side and we decided to continue. Triangle by triangle and layer by layer, the structure emerged. What had existed for so long as geometry on our computers, parts in the workshop and prototypes at Granberget was now becoming a real dome on the mountain.
The work continued through the night. At 07:05 on Thursday morning, the shell was closed and the roof plate for the chimney was in place. After breakfast and three hours of sleep, it was time to go back up the mountain.
We spent Thursday and Friday sealing and weatherproofing the structure. Once that work was done, we could finally breathe a little easier. The dome stood in place, sealed and ready to face rain, snow and wind. The weather had been kind to us.
Building above the tree line is, of course, very different from building at home in Granberget. There are no walls around the worksite, and we cannot control the conditions in the same way. Wind, rain and temperature become part of the building process itself—and the weather at Hemavan Viewpoint can be extreme. Wind speeds of 56 m/s, more than 200 km/h, have been recorded here.
That makes the site both challenging and valuable for the pilot programme. The dome is there for more than its appearance on the mountain. Over the coming year, it will help us understand how the structure, materials and details perform in real conditions, far from the controlled development setting at Granberget.
The following week, we returned to Hemavan to complete the work. This time, it was less about erecting the structure and more about all the details that make a dome complete: adjustments, sealing, weatherproofing, electrical work and the installation of our specially developed fireplace and chimney.
This is also an important part of the pilot programme’s purpose. A drawing can tell us a great deal, and our prototypes at Granberget have taught us even more. But only when we build in other places and under different conditions can we answer the next set of questions. How does transport work? How can assembly become more efficient? Which details can be simplified? What needs to change in production back at Granberget? And what happens to the structure after an autumn, winter, spring and summer on the mountain?
By Wednesday afternoon, we were finally finished. Together with the team from Hemavan Alpint, we could open a bottle of sparkling wine, inaugurate the dome and formally hand over their Scandinavian Fire Dome 15 – Pilot Edition.
For us, this dome represents more than another finished structure. It is the first Scandinavian Dome to leave Granberget. Until now, our journey towards the Perfect Dome has largely involved our own ideas, prototypes, material tests, machines and countless small improvements. In Hemavan, the next part of that journey begins.
Over the coming year, together with Hemavan Alpint, we will follow the dome through autumn, winter, spring and summer. It will face wind, snow and cold while people use the space, light the fire and make the dome part of the site.
We will follow what works as intended, what works differently and what can be improved. That is the idea behind the Scandinavian Domes Pilot Programme: to learn what we do not yet know. The lessons from Hemavan, together with our upcoming pilot installations, will feed into the continued development of Scandinavian Domes.
We can only hope the mountain does not decide to test everything at once. 🙂
A big thank you to everyone at Hemavan Alpint who helped us get the first pilot dome in place.
Meanwhile, work has already continued back at Granberget. What we learned from the first installation is going straight into the next build. New parts are being made, details are changing and the next pilot dome is beginning to take shape.
Next stop: Svalbo, at the foot of Hästfjället outside Åre.
During the summer of 2026, we selected three pilot partners from almost 100 applications from Sweden and abroad. The pilot year has now begun with installations in Hemavan, Åre and Borgafjäll.
Under sommaren 2026 valde vi ut tre pilotkunder bland närmare 100 intresseanmälningar från Sverige och andra länder. Pilotåret har nu inletts med installationer i Hemavan, Åre och Borgafjäll.
Tillsammans med våra pilotkunder kommer vi under det kommande året att vidareutveckla varje del av Scandinavian Domes – från materialval och hantverk till logistik, installation och långsiktig hållbarhet – inför den bredare marknadslanseringen 2027.