I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 599 - 497: Work at the Design Institute

In a design firm in a certain city, everyone was busy working at their computers.

This is a well-known and powerful design firm. They have had many excellent works and have won various awards, making them a prominent presence in the industry.

However, with the arrival of the disaster, this design firm, which was originally thriving in Shanghai, had to relocate to an inland area.

Moreover, as a private enterprise, the design firm, under the current circumstances, had no choice but to affiliate itself with a state-owned design institute, relying on the business allocated by them to survive.

This is also the national approach to resettling private enterprises with certain technical strengths: overall relocation, overall resettlement, retaining the original technical strength, and providing certain business opportunities so they can continue to survive.

However, not many enterprises can enjoy this treatment—only technically strong and known companies receive such treatment.

Most ordinary companies either close down and scatter their staff, or get absorbed by state-owned enterprises, directly integrating into the system. Few private companies manage to survive.

Fortunately, the strength of this design firm was still quite strong, and since the business allocated by the affiliated state-owned design institute was not insignificant, they managed to maintain their survival.

"Everyone, stop what you’re doing for a moment, I have something to announce." The head of the design firm suddenly came to the office, clapping his hands to interrupt everyone’s work, drawing their attention to himself.

Seeing everyone looking at him, the head continued, "First, I want to announce some good news. Previously, our Dome City project, designed in collaboration with the design institute, has passed the initial review. The design institute called just now to confirm this."

Upon hearing the head’s words, everyone burst into cheers—getting recognition for their hard work was undoubtedly a joyous and celebratory outcome.

But the head waved his hand to quiet everyone, indicating there was more to say.

Once everyone settled down, the head continued, "Although it passed the initial review, whether our plan will ultimately be adopted is still uncertain, so we cannot relax. Please keep up the good work.

The subsequent design work will continue to be a joint effort with the design institute. They will handle the dome, heating, and other infrastructure designs, while we will be responsible for city construction, greening, and related aspects. So, we all still have a heavy workload."

Upon hearing the head’s words, there wasn’t much reaction from the team.

When they received the Dome City design task earlier, they had already prepared for the subsequent work.

They just hadn’t proceeded because they were unsure whether their design would pass the initial review. Now that it’s confirmed, they naturally began the next phase of work.

Everyone simply responded to the head briefly and then returned to their individual tasks.

The follow-up design work for Dome City was already arranged when they received the task earlier. Some people had even completed some work beforehand, so no further arrangements were needed.

The head saw this and said no more. If it were in the past, he would have incentivized them with bonuses and vacations to boost their morale. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But under the present circumstances, there was little he could do.

Raises and bonuses were now ineffective, as money, while still recognized by the state, couldn’t actually buy anything. In contrast, materials and resource vouchers held more value.

However, the resource vouchers on the firm’s books were earmarked for acquiring materials necessary for the firm’s operations. The general-purpose vouchers were scarce, and the firm didn’t have many, and they would have to wait until this design task was completed to offer bonuses.

And, as for vacations, forget it. In this icy and snowy weather, where could anyone go on vacation?

Nevertheless, the head still offered some words of encouragement, urging everyone to complete this design task and strive to secure this project.

Returning to his office, the head took out the previous design plan, intending to review it again for any possible modifications.

Before establishing this design firm, he was a seasoned designer with talent and flair. Otherwise, he couldn’t have opened such a firm in a place like Shanghai just through his own efforts.

However, after becoming the head, most specific design work was delegated to subordinates while he took charge of overseeing the bigger picture.

As it was a collaboration with the design institute, the dome and other infrastructure designs for Dome City were handled by the institute, which were standard and relatively unremarkable.

But in terms of city layout, the firm’s designers proposed a bold idea.

They decided to place the Energy Tower and geothermal power facilities, responsible for providing heat and energy to the entire Dome City, and the ecological greenhouses for growing crops, outside the dome, freeing up more space inside.

Moreover, they excavated downward, expanding the city beneath, increasing the space within the dome.

This was indeed a bold and innovative design. Chen Xin chose to approve this proposal for the initial review precisely because of its uniqueness.

Compared to a conventional layout placing the Energy Tower at the city’s center and building the city around it, this out-of-the-box design was more creative.

Besides, it wasn’t just technical showmanship; the design truly produced excellent results. It created more buildable space inside the dome while breaking the constraint of city construction around the Energy Tower, allowing for more options and layout patterns in urban planning.

Because of this, another key facility for city operation, the ecological greenhouse, was also extracted from within the dome.

Although ecological greenhouses aren’t essential for every Dome City, the environment within a Dome City is unquestionably better than the outside, making growing crops directly within the Dome City a viable option.

In their proposal, the ecological greenhouse, while still connected to the dome, was a section attached beside the dome rather than covered by it, thus freeing up even more space for city buildings.

Nevertheless, even after excluding these two areas, limited by the dome’s 5KM diameter, this Dome City still seemed quite tiny, needing to fit administrative, functional, residential, and living areas beneath the dome.

To achieve this, the designers nearly worked themselves to exhaustion, but fortunately, they managed to complete the task.