Team Headquarters

COOL building is Smith Tower in Pioneer Square. It's an awesome building from the 1800's that is full of offices and such. It'd be like the Baxter Building! additionally (when I visited it with my brother a month ago) they told the story that there is a real "mansion" style apartment in the top "pyramid" of the building. Currently a guy, his wife and new baby live there. There's apparently a "globe" on the very top that a small group of people can get up in for a 360 opague glodal view of Seattle!

I really like the Smith Tower for an HQ... check out my notes/ideas...

here's a pic... http://www.emporis.com/en/il/to/sh/?ar=1&na=Smith+Tower&ci=Seattle&button=Empori\ s+Search

http://www.smithtower.com/Facts.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Tower http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/US/WA/SeattleSmithTower.html http://www.shellbackltd.com/pages2/thumb/image/g8.jpg http://www.shellbackltd.com/pages2/thumb/image/g1.jpg http://aurorastudios.typepad.com/photos/aurora_1/smith_tower_1.jpg http://www.bcmivf.org/Images/maphouston3_lrg.gif

mixed with ..... http://members.fortunecity.com/dm_bishop2/marvel/baxter002.JPG http://omnicentral.net/fantastic4/sounds/baxter.gif

http://www.terrydivyak.com/gallery/export/html/photos/Stock_Seattle_DSC_0458.jpg

Built: 1911-1914 Floors: 42 Maximum height: 522 feet Weight: 48,650 tons Location: 506 Second Avenue

a high-rise industrial site the top five floors of the building perfect for their needs

In the lobby has an express elevator to the top five floors which can only be accessed by a solenoid activator carried in the team's identa-chips. This elevator is equipped with scanners used to identify the passengers as well as detect concealed weapons. The other elevators only go as high as the 37th floor, which is the team's reception area. Here a visitor would be greeted by the team receptionist and security and scanned.

The building is divided between regular tenants and the team's headquarters. Floors 34-36 are a buffer zone. Tenants on these floors do not have 99-year leases; they must renew on a yearly basis. This provides the team with room for future expansion when they finally outgrow their present area.

Floors 37-42 and the 3 story pyramid and top globe serve as the team's headquarters.

The 38th floor is the living quarters and laid out much like any large Seattle apartment. The 39th floor has some more living quarters, art studio, the library, the reference room, etc. Floor 39 acts as an inn; guest suites fill this usually unoccupied floor. Two suites can by water-filled and maintained for aquatic visitors or other extreme enviromental conditions such as Atlanteans or Moon People. Other facilities include the kitchen, pantry, spa, two gymnasia (one for normal strength levels, the other for super-strong users), a large library, and a computerized classroom. 40th floor is primarily for workshops and laboratories; the floorplan changes frequently with experiments. The computer and monitor banks, communications center, briefing room are located on the 41st floor and is considered the actual headquarters. It function as the team's command center. Meeting rooms, communications stations, links to Starcore and other astronomical organizations, and a computerized medical station are here.The 42nd is the hangar bay and machine shop.

Basement The foundation reaches 150' into the Pioneer Square Underground and bedrock. There are ten floors here. Sublevels 1-2 are used by the building's maintenance staff. Sublevels 3-4 contain the freight docks and tenant warehouse facilities. A railroad spur enables large masses of freight to be moved in or out without the need to deal with the Seattle traffic.

Sublevels 5-15 are restricted to the team. These floors contain special devices and support facilities for floors 37th and up floors. These include a back-up computer system, generators, holding cells, and any large items the team might not want on the upper floors. Sublevel 5 contains the waterfilled conduit that reaches the Pudget Sound; this permits aquatic visitors to directly reach the tower without suffering the indignity of having to swim through the sewer system.

The basic structure of the tower consists of various combinations of reinforced concrete, steel, and other durable materials. Floors 1-36 are fairly normal construction. Floors 37th and up floors are somewhat sturdier. Some internal walls are further reinforced.

Floors 20, 37, and 42 contain the mechanical facilities for the building's ventilation and plumbing systems. The ventilation system contains an auxiliary oxygen supply and air recycling system that can maintain a breathable atmosphere within the building for days.

An empty elevator shaft runs the height of the building. It is for the use of other members of the team who need to quickly get to any other floor. It is only for use by those with the means to travel through the air or along walls. Safeguards in the shaft can detect and catch anyone falling down the shaft; sensors are able to differentiate between a freefall and controlled downward flight. In the event of a freefall, nets spring out from the sides.

The tower has a series of breakaway points. These unoccupied floors have special destruct devices that will separate sections of the building. The idea is that if the team's headquarters were drawn into space, these devices would detach the lower civilian floors, which would hopefully remain attached to the ground. The breakaway points are located on floors 21 and 37.