I would think with a dome it also presents a challenge regarding shelving. I know many people incorporate the vertical walls into their shelving/beds/etc....Speaking of a greenhouse here of course and not a hoop house.

Not saying a dome isn't more efficient with heat or that there aren't ways around the shelving issue, but it would require a little thinking outside the box (no pun intended lol).

Indeed, with a dome you lose some plantable area unless you have more than a half-sphere (or a half-sphere with a cylindrical side wall). The slope at the edges makes for very little head room until you move closer to the center.

With a high tunnel you have some control over this problem with the slope of the walls (i.e., is it really a "high" tunnel, a "medium" tunnel or a "low" tunnel). With a rectangular structure, you can have better use of the space near the walls.

Cubic interior space versus surface area of exterior walls is not that useful of a measurement unless you're growing vertically, with tall plants or hydroponics. If you are heating a greenhouse, you can insulate your north wall, which more than makes up for the greater surface area of typical northern greenhouse designs.

growingspaces.com

Everyone that I know with a home made dome structure suffers leaks - too many joints/edges. But you do often see domes on large botanic garden's conservatories.

I'd agree with the previous posters.

Theory may give the volume/surface edge to dome/circular structures. However practical and other issues override that.

In a heated structure, allowing for an insulated N wall more than makes up for any advantage the surface to volume ratio a sphere structure may have. Also, there are advantages to orienting a long axis in an e-w direction, for capturing more sun. And there are considerations of minimizing walkways which a narrower footprint can help with.

But probably the biggest advantage of "rectangular" designs is that all GH building materials come in straight/rectangular dimensions. Building a structure with compound curves (like a dome or sphere) does not fit well with commonly available materials, leading to more waste and expense, and more seams to seal.

This has been an interesting thread to read. It brings to mind a few historic round barns in our area of central PA. I marveled at the re-shingling project on one round barn still standing that seemed to take a group of professionals the greater part of a summer to accomplish. For these barns the theory was that the animals could all be facing inward to a center feeding area and the manure would be conveniently at the perimeter.

I can envision a huge multiprism like the Disney Epcot Center attraction- if you had a similar nursury sales area it could be a huge tourist attraction. But in practical growers terms I totally agree with the previous posts.