Carnegie Mellon freshman earns scholarship for work to create foldable dome home

A Carnegie Mellon University freshman is eyeing a potential solution to house the homeless with foldable dome homes.

Christian Duckworth, 18, of Wexford, said his idea to build portable, collapsible dome-shaped homes has been in the works for years. He’s worked on renderings and hopes to one day see the idea come to life as a solution to the affordable housing crisis and homelessness plaguing the region.

His work earned him a $10,000 Build a Better Future scholarship from Honors Graduation, a company specializing in graduation apparel, to help cover his college education. The scholarship is awarded to students who work to build up their local communities.

“Ever since a young age, I always had a heart for the homeless,” Duckworth said, explaining that he had served breakfast at homeless shelters and worked on a renovation project at Light of Life Rescue Mission in Pittsburgh’s North Side to become an Eagle Scout.

As a sophomore at North Allegheny High School, Duckworth said, he began working on the concept for the foldable dome home.

“It’s a great, easy, efficient solution,” Duckworth said.

The dome-shaped homes would be 254 square feet, but fold down into cubes measuring 8 1/2 feet to allow for easy transportation. Eight of them could fit on one semi-truck, Duckworth said, and they’re designed to be “super easy to assemble.”

“I was looking for a space that was pretty on the outside, but functioning on the inside,” he explained.

Duckworth’s concept includes several amenities, including a bathroom, kitchen, loft space, air conditioning and solar panels to power the lights.

The structures would be made of vacuum-insulated panels — or VIP panels — consisting of recycled materials.

“It would be light and durable,” Duckworth said.

He does not yet have an estimate of how much it would cost to construct the homes, but his renderings show that such a house could be built to be efficient, portable and visually appealing.

“The goal would be to put them on plots of land in the city of Pittsburgh,” Duckworth said. “It doesn’t look like a homeless camp.”

The foldable dome homes could also be used for disaster relief, he said, or other situations where emergency housing may be needed.

Duckworth is studying architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, but said he hopes to continue working on the foldable dome home project during breaks throughout the year.

Duckworth said he stumbled upon the Build a Better Future Scholarship when searching through scholarship options, and went through the application process. When he discovered he’d earned the cash, he said, “It makes your day.”

“I’m not surprised by anything Christian is able to accomplish,” said Keith Banks, a technology education teacher at North Allegheny, who taught Duckworth in six different classes throughout his four years in high school. “When he sets his mind to a task, especially something that involves engineering design, he would work tooth and nail to make it happen.”

As a high school freshman, Duckworth crafted a highly functional hydraulic arm design in one weekend while his classmates took two weeks to create their designs, Banks said.

“Christian was always looking for the next big project to work on,” Banks said. “His interests, intellect and work ethic will take him far in life.”