Eye-Catching New Exterior for Faith Chapel
September 23, 2003
by Rebecca South
photos by Gary Clark
Birmingham, Alabama is home to the largest diameter Monolithic Dome in the world. Faith Chapel Christian Center measures 280-feet in diameter with a seating capacity of approximately 3,000. The dome encloses 61,575 square feet. The church was designed by Architect Rick Crandall and Dome Technology of Idaho Falls, Idaho built the dome shell.
But having the largest diameter dome was not enough for Debra Blaylock and the rest of Faith Chapel's administrators-- they wanted the dome to SHINE.
They hired Monolithic to coat the exterior in an eye-catching white and gold pattern designed by Crandall. The Monolithic crew was led up by head superintendent Javier Figueroa.
The Faith Chapel dome has a surface area of approximately 2 acres, or 86,000 sq. ft. UCSC custom mixed special primers and paint for the project.
Using climbing harnasses and soft-soled shoes, the crew worked directly on the dome. First they sprayed a layer of Monoform Primer to the Airform to lock-in the plasticizer in the fabric and increase coating adhesion. The primer was applied at approximately 1 gallon per 400 sq. ft.
Next, a high tensile acrylic base coat of approximately the same color as the top coat was applied in two applications at approximately 1 gallon per 100 sq. ft. The top coat with special additives for shine was then sprayed on. Again, they applied it at about 1 gallon per 100 sq. ft.
After measuring and taping the design on the dome, the crew applied the white coating for the stripes. Instead of spraying on the stripes, they used rollers to avoid over-spray. The stripes are 5 ft. and was applied at 1 gallon per 100 sq. ft.
The entire project took approximately 3 weeks. It would have been complete in 2 weeks had it not been for persistant rain storms.
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