5 ms·

How much more expensive would it have been to build this underground (with an access door somewhere) and make the above area a park or open land? Are undergrou

by dm2 13y ago

How much more expensive would it have been to build this underground (with an access door somewhere) and make the above area a park or open land? Are underground structures partially avoided because of the potential for them to collapse if not properly maintained or if a large truck drives over them for whatever reason? I've always had the desire to build a basement that I can slowly expand overtime and have a huge underground facility. I wonder if this is possible? Didn't they do it at the White House and Vice President's house?

michaelt 13y ago
If you believe London's Evening Standard (not the most reliable of newspapers) in expensive areas of London it's common for people to buy 19th century mansions then build underground "mega-basements" [1,2,3,4] with features like pools, tennis courts and classic car museums. So it's possible. It may be expensive. [1] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/kensington-digs-in-with-ban-on-mega-basements-8544091.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/kensington-digs-in-wit... [2] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/daimler-heir-wins-fight-to-dig-vast-basement-with-50ft-pool-at-30m-georgian-home-8483082.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/daimler-heir-wins-figh... [3] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/billionaires-chelsea-basement-plans-scrapped-before-planners-get-the-chance-to-reject-them-8392628.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/billionaires-chelsea-b... [4] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tetra-pak-heir-hans-rausing-to-install-mega-basement-at-home-where-wifes-dead-body-was-hidden-for-months-8794350.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tetra-pak-heir-hans-ra...
- rmk2 13y ago
  It made it onto Channel 4's "Grand Designs"[1], so there is little doubt this is happening, being filmed and all. Also, the Guardian has something about it as well: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/09/billionaires-basements-london-houses-architecture http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/09/billiona... [1]: Grand Designs S12E06 -- "The Edwardian Artist's Studio" [2] [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEzcu9hWo-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEzcu9hWo-E [3] [3]: GOTO [1]
kaishiro 13y ago
[Edit: Added a once and future home owner's dream :) ] Actually, the whole pump station does seem to be mostly underground. In the video, the public works employee shows where the front door would be from inside the unit, and it's pretty far up on the wall. And yeah, I rent (and love renting), but the one thing I miss in doing so is not being able to just "dig holes". One day maybe I'll finally take the leap.
jmccree 13y ago
The cost of underground construction varies significantly depending on local geological, soil, and water table conditions. In some areas with deep well drained soil underground construction is relatively cheap, as it's basically just earth moving. In others you hit granite bedrock after a few feet and you have to excavate the bed rock to go deeper. It's certainly possible to expand out from a basement, and every so often the news shows footage of elaborate underground tunnels for drug manufacturing etc beneath a normal house. If you're interested in underground structures, you should check out limestone mines converted to office space or storage like subtropolis. They mine the limestone of a solid horizontal layer leaving pillars to support the "roof", creating an entire underground building millions of sqft and acres in size. Subtropolis is over one thousand acres.
- Someone 13y ago
  For subtropolis, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubTropolis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubTropolis. From there, http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html gives you the site of the business. I find their brochure gives a good idea about what it looks like: http://huntmidwest.com/pdfs/subtropolis_brochure_2012.pdf http://huntmidwest.com/pdfs/subtropolis_brochure_2012.pdf Impressive, but way more industrial than, for example, the centuries old limestone caves in the Belgian-Dutch-German border area (http://maastricht-students.com/2012/07/millions-of-years-of-history-in-caves/ http://maastricht-students.com/2012/07/millions-of-years-of-..., http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188575-d318667-Reviews-St_Pietersberg_Caves-Maastricht_Limburg_Province.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188575-d318667...)

by dm2 13y ago

michaelt 13y ago

If you believe London's Evening Standard (not the most reliable of newspapers) in expensive areas of London it's common for people to buy 19th century mansions then build underground "mega-basements" [1,2,3,4] with features like pools, tennis courts and classic car museums. So it's possible. It may be expensive. [1] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/kensington-digs-in-with-ban-on-mega-basements-8544091.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/kensington-digs-in-wit... [2] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/daimler-heir-wins-fight-to-dig-vast-basement-with-50ft-pool-at-30m-georgian-home-8483082.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/daimler-heir-wins-figh... [3] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/billionaires-chelsea-basement-plans-scrapped-before-planners-get-the-chance-to-reject-them-8392628.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/billionaires-chelsea-b... [4] http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tetra-pak-heir-hans-rausing-to-install-mega-basement-at-home-where-wifes-dead-body-was-hidden-for-months-8794350.html http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tetra-pak-heir-hans-ra...

rmk2 13y ago
It made it onto Channel 4's "Grand Designs"[1], so there is little doubt this is happening, being filmed and all. Also, the Guardian has something about it as well: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/09/billionaires-basements-london-houses-architecture http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/09/billiona... [1]: Grand Designs S12E06 -- "The Edwardian Artist's Studio" [2] [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEzcu9hWo-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEzcu9hWo-E [3] [3]: GOTO [1]

kaishiro 13y ago

[Edit: Added a once and future home owner's dream :) ] Actually, the whole pump station does seem to be mostly underground. In the video, the public works employee shows where the front door would be from inside the unit, and it's pretty far up on the wall. And yeah, I rent (and love renting), but the one thing I miss in doing so is not being able to just "dig holes". One day maybe I'll finally take the leap.

jmccree 13y ago

The cost of underground construction varies significantly depending on local geological, soil, and water table conditions. In some areas with deep well drained soil underground construction is relatively cheap, as it's basically just earth moving. In others you hit granite bedrock after a few feet and you have to excavate the bed rock to go deeper. It's certainly possible to expand out from a basement, and every so often the news shows footage of elaborate underground tunnels for drug manufacturing etc beneath a normal house. If you're interested in underground structures, you should check out limestone mines converted to office space or storage like subtropolis. They mine the limestone of a solid horizontal layer leaving pillars to support the "roof", creating an entire underground building millions of sqft and acres in size. Subtropolis is over one thousand acres.

Someone 13y ago
For subtropolis, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubTropolis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SubTropolis. From there, http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html http://www.huntmidwest.com/subtropolis/index.html gives you the site of the business. I find their brochure gives a good idea about what it looks like: http://huntmidwest.com/pdfs/subtropolis_brochure_2012.pdf http://huntmidwest.com/pdfs/subtropolis_brochure_2012.pdf Impressive, but way more industrial than, for example, the centuries old limestone caves in the Belgian-Dutch-German border area (http://maastricht-students.com/2012/07/millions-of-years-of-history-in-caves/ http://maastricht-students.com/2012/07/millions-of-years-of-..., http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188575-d318667-Reviews-St_Pietersberg_Caves-Maastricht_Limburg_Province.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188575-d318667...)