An idea aroused from my knowledge in cells from introduction to biology, and my interest in planetary evolution.
As species evolved from microscopic organisms to more complex varieties of organisms there has always been something like the cell membrane keeping wanted things in and unwanted things out, while effectively excreting or taking out waste products produced by organisms.
Since these types of membranes exist can they be magnified to a scale that it could not only sustain one organism like a bacterial can sustain it self, but to the level of how the human body is supported by organs systems making it easier to survive in the harsh world. If such could be said about planets in the same, could we replicate these types of adaptations or selections to make inhabitable planets potentially habitable?
If your membrane contains an atmospher, then molecules and atoms cannot pass via it. It contradicts your constraint of spatial passage. Please specify the last. Also, do you imagine the scale of this “membrane”?
It would be able to contain the atmosphere similar to how a space station keeps the air inside of it self. And it would have selective permeability due a system similar to a transfer chamber. So that it could control the leakage of the gasses from the planet's atmosphere. I also agree the scale it extremely huge I only was speculating the possibility or feasibility of it being able to work. And as for containing the heat of the sun for plant life and such I speculate there could be a system to reflect the light from out side to inside to make it possible for life. Just an idea I hope this helps.
You might find it interesting to explore an area known as Cosmic Mega-structures, which includes planetary and stellar size objects to assist in maintaining a reasonable habitable zone. The Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford has some ideas along these lines as well. In general these concepts are simpler than a cellular membrane which has a number of clever chemical pathways many of which we are still trying to understand. Perhaps the best known large such structure is the Dyson Sphere, but care must be taken here since ideal spherical structures have stability issues. This is certainly an interesting and good idea that needs to be explored.
To add to Keith Andrew 's answer, the short essay by Larry Niven "Bigger than worlds" is quite entertaining.
Anderson Discs, Ringworlds, and even more exotic geometries are proposed.
The atmosphere of the Earth does precisely this job, since it does allow transmission of certain forms of matter and radiation and absorbs others. Any ``atmosphere'' does the same.
Sam Nicolis I was asking about the pheasability of containing a atmosphere for planets or spacial bodies not large enough to contain one that has a sole purpose of allowing life to be possible on those planets or space objects. If a planet can already sustain an atmosphere capable of protecting human life then it wouldn't need this type of structure to be made.
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