Chapter 402: 400 Chapters: Circular Structure
When Chen Xin and the survival group’s friends initially designed the bunker, the ideal plan they proposed was to convert missile silos or abandoned military air raid shelters into bunkers, turning them into small communities.
However, this plan was abandoned due to policy restrictions and economic issues in Flame Country, leading everyone to build private bunkers instead.
In the initial conception, there were indeed many ideas regarding the design of the bunkers.
Some of these ideas were very practical, such as greenhouses for planting, water circulation systems, air filtration, and communication facilities, but there were also some ideas that were somewhat unrealistic yet still functional.
For instance, building a library and bringing a large number of paper books into the bunker was actually a great idea. After all, compared to electronic products, paper books could be preserved for much longer. If you take care of the books while reading, one book could last for decades.
This was certainly a very practical idea, but unfortunately, before the disaster, with the internet being so prevalent, people rarely read physical books anymore. Even bookstores, once found everywhere on the streets, had disappeared for many years. It had become challenging to purchase physical books.
Plus, since everyone brought electronic products into the bunker, a library was no longer necessary. Therefore, when Chen Xin initially built the bunker, the library was omitted.
When they referred to some foreign bunker designs back then, they noticed that the bunkers even had cinemas, supermarkets, and swimming pools, which sparked some ideas within everyone.
However, due to the actual situation, as it wasn’t the initially envisioned community model, the supermarket became unnecessary. For cinemas, a home theater could be set up in the living room, which was sufficient.
As for swimming pools, they required large areas and consumed precious water resources. In cold weather, they would also need heating equipment, which was too extravagant and troublesome. It was more practical to have a large bathtub, so no one really built a swimming pool.
Apart from this, there were functional facilities like the bar at Mo Qingyan’s home, billiard rooms at the homes of some friends who liked playing billiards, and VR experience rooms for friends who liked playing VR. These facilities belonged only to one or two individuals, and others could only admire but not attain them.
Although later on, Chen Xin managed to acquire somes functional facilities like a fish pond for breeding fish and a medical room through material exchange, there were still some things he didn’t have.
However, now, Chen Xin felt that he could afford to build some facilities to improve his quality of life, making his life not only better but also more comfortable.
For instance, the frozen collection in Mo Qingyan’s wine cellar; Chen Xin had discussed with Mo Qingyan about when to retrieve those wines.
If he could get hold of that batch of wine, Chen Xin thought he could build a wine cellar and bar in the bunker.
Moreover, although he had built a hot spring bath, when he was using it alone it didn’t seem like much. Now with more people in the bunker, Chen Xin felt it was necessary to expand it so there would be separate areas for men and women, avoiding the need to schedule usage times based on gender.
Additionally, since he wanted to conduct research and manufacture things, the original workspace seemed a bit small, so it also needed some adjustments.
With many ideas emerging in Chen Xin’s mind, the plans for the bunker had already changed drastically.
Several new spaces appeared, significantly expanding the overall footprint. The main part of the bunker, originally deeply buried with a difference of several dozen meters from the entrance, was adjusted on the plans so that the difference was now only one floor’s height.
This height difference posed no issues in terms of architectural structure and protective performance. The bunker was initially buried so deeply to withstand meteor impacts and subsequent disasters.
Now that the disasters had passed, there was no need to live so deeply underground.
As for water, electricity, heating, and air filtration facilities, Chen Xin separated them from the main structure of the building, specially setting them aside in a different space. This meant that these facilities no longer needed to be placed in the main area of the bunker, and any problems wouldn’t affect the residents inside the bunker.
After a series of adjustments, the overall planning of the bunker could be said to have clearly defined functional areas and even added several production and life facilities, making the functions more complete.
However, looking at the slightly chaotic layout of the bunker, Chen Xin felt that it should be reorganized.
Even though there was no need to worry about construction difficulty and space limitations, the entire planning of the bunker should still be more reasonable.
Thinking of this, Chen Xin recalled a video he had seen about Federation wealthy elites converting abandoned missile silos into bunkers. The missile silo-converted bunker was quite successful, satisfying both in terms of comfort and functionality, and its design was very reasonable.
So, after some consideration, Chen Xin decided to readjust the layout of his bunker.
Firstly, there was no need for the newly added functional areas to be laid out separately; they could be stacked. The entire bunker could be designed into a multi-story structure, accessed via elevators and stairs. This would make the architectural layout more compact and convenient.
After all, moving up and down stairs in a bunker and walking through corridors are completely different experiences.
Moreover, Chen Xin intended to adjust the current square structure of the bunker into a circular shape, emulating the missile silo-converted bunkers.
This was not about copying or imitating but rather because a circular shape generally had a higher space utilization rate and facilitated easier layout.
Another aspect was that a circular structure had inherently stronger structural integrity and was more material-efficient, although Chen Xin didn’t particularly need to prioritize this.
Hence, after a series of adjustments, the entire bunker transformed into a multi-layered cylindrical structure, still connected to the bunker’s entrance via corridors. However, it was no longer necessary to go down several dozen meters via elevators to access the inside of the bunker.
It was possible to directly reach the first floor of the main part of the bunker and then descend to lower levels using the central elevator or stairs in the circular structure.
As for the main part of the bunker, functionalities like the living room, kitchen, and hot spring bath, which were originally connected with the bedrooms, were separated and placed on different floors, concentrating the bedrooms on one floor to increase living space.
After this adjustment, everyone could have a single room and a more comfortable bed, no longer having to sleep on bunk beds.