Permanent vs inflatable dome?

Are you building a sports field and you do not know whether to cover it by an inflatable or permanent (assembled) dome?

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions.

Assembled domes: It fits where the pitch is to be permanently covered. Assembled structures do not have as good insulation properties as inflatable domes but they require less maintenance.

The advantage is that prefabricated halls can be build by a large number of companies. It is rather difficult to choose from a large selection.

It is basically a regular building that requires building permission, foundation building etc.

Inflatable domes (Air domes): Usually they are built only for the season, which means in most European countries from October to April. Over the summer the dome is disassembled. Of course, the disassembly is not necessary, and especially in the case of tennis, air domes are often used year-round.

Building permission is usually not required – it depends on how the sports field is built (when E panels are used the building permit is usually not necessary). The heating costs are relatively low (compared to permanent structures), but be careful – only if we are talking about a double-membrane dome with an insulating layer of air!

Air domes have one more advantage – they can be tailor-made to fit any size of pitch. For example, when covering a large football field, it is practically impossible to use a different solution than the modern double-membrane inflatable dome.