Tunnels

One important feature of the family complex is the existance of underground tunnels that connect all of the buildings. This has several benefits, the primary one being that it is not necessary to have a garage and driveway for each house. Instead, there will be one massive garage that is able to hold all of our vehicles. Tunnels will lead to each of the houses, the common house, and the garage.

Construction

My current plan is to buy prefabricated concrete sections normally used for large drainage culverts. They can be gotten in a square shape. Alternatively, I could pour concrete. The choice will boil down to cost.

However, a concrete tunnel isn't very nice to look at, and this is an area that will be used frequently and by guests. The same tunnel will also house data cables and conduit. Consequently, the tunnels should have a finished interior.

My current plan is to make fiberglass sections. This will allow me to form a corridor in just about any shape I want. I am envisioning something like the cooridors on the NCC-1701D. I can put carpeting on the floor, I may also be able to put carpeting on the wall sections for sound dampening, and I can have built-in lighting fixtures.

Lighting

I don't think I want to use flourescent lighting, even though it would be the most energy efficient. Regular tungsten blubs would be cheapest to purchase. I might also consider low-voltage halogen.

For tungsten, I could have fixtures that mount in a built-in alcove of some sort that bounces the light nicely and indirectly. They wouldn't have to be very bright lights, maybe 7.5 or 15 watt bulbs, if I have enough of them.

I might not need a light in each section. Perhaps every other section might be enough. If the walls and carpet are a lighter color, this will help. Also, the lighting can be closer to the floor, so someone can walk through and see where they are going. They aren't going to be reading in the tunnels or anything.

UPDATE: Perhaps I can use LED lighting. There is a lot of new technology coming along those lines.

Air Circulation

I might want to have some kind of air circulation in the tunnels. It depends on the climate. They are underground, so they probably don't need to be cooled. But they might need to be heated. It might be simplest to have a blower that supplies air into the tunnel that has been heated or cooled in another part of the complex.

Actually, such a system might create a natural geothermic climate system. In the summer, the temperature of the ground around the tunnels may be cool enough to use it in the air return. During the winter, it may be warm enough. The question is, will it be more efficient to do that, or will I end up spending lots of money heating and cooling the ground around the tunnels?

Drainage

I don't really want a massive network of sump pumps. This should be built in a place where the lowest elevation of the tunnel system is above the lowest point on the property, so that drainage pipes can be used to direct seepage out of the tunnels. The floor of the tunnels should be able to tolerate a frequently wet condition.

Hub

The tunnels should be in a star configuration, meeting up in a hub. The hub could be quite large. It will have at least five passages leading out (three houses, the common house, and the garage). It could have other decorative items (accent tables, mirrors, wall sconces, a center table), and it should probably have a chair for someone to sit down in to rest.

Handicap Accessible

The tunnels should be wide enough to easily accomodate a wheelchair. The thresholds should not involve steps at any point.

The design of some of the houses should accomodate an elevator, or there should be a ramp. The garage should have room for an elevator or a ramp (how about a spiral ramp?).