Sounds like a lot of work. I put the one-hitter on the desk by my laptop keyboard and the smoke flows out of the bowl through the carburetor hole, and pools on the desktop.
You're right about ventilation, but it's also important for lighting. The Pantheon has an oculus that is proportioned similar to the eye and it's iris. Beyond that, if it's too big UV will bleach out your living room furniture.
The rest of ventilation is openings around the periphery and some sort of ventilator control — Fuller's rotating cone or Indian teepee smoke flaps.
edit:
Since I posted I found this:
They discuss the quality of light and the psychological effect of the hemispherical space. And there's a panelized pod structure as well.