The SkyPiercer

The defining structure of Khar'Ak 'Than, the SkyPiercer is a massive building, shaped liked a needle, in the centre of the city. It stands at about 3.8 kilometers tall, and serves as both a home for thousands, space for commerce, and the seat of the city's administration. The basement area of the building also houses major administrative AI systems for both the city and the Ak'Thakran Commonwealth as a whole.

Architecture

Extending 3814 meters above the city streets, the SkyPiercer is an example of a mile-tower, the tallest planetside structures save ones that extend to orbit like space elevators. While there are taller ones in human space, and very much larger ones, such as the arcologies of Mars or Earth, the Skypiercer is in the upper echelon of mile-towers in height, as at around 8 kilometers, construction becomes extremely impractical, an accomplishment unto itself, as mile-towers are already dubiously useful. The mile-tower is nearly circular at base, with a slight triangular warping to it, about 400 meters wide on average. It also extends nearly half a kilometer below ground. While the majority of this volume is dedicated to structural features and active support systems, as well as various city administration AI systems, there is some space left, largely for storage.
The SkyPiercer is remarkable smooth. Aside from having seven different sections with clear, angled setbacks between them, the sections themselves are very smooth, with clear windows all over, providing a magnificent view of the city and the lands beyond. The structure of the building is made of various very strong materials, but due to its sheer size, the core of it is a large hollow space, about 100 meters wide at base with active support systems throughout, most pushing streams of air from the outside against the building, keeping it upright and from collapsing on itself. There are also sets of smaller elevators near the sides, and larger ones somewhat deeper in, for traversing the whole tower.

Major sections

The basement is as mentioned, mostly dedicated to AI systems and keeping to mile-tower upright. At ground floor, a few hundred meters are filled with various governmental offices, such as embassies and general management offices. From there upwards, the tower is largely filled with residential areas and hotels, with shops and other amenities here and there within them.

RUINED STRUCTURE
2876

Founding Date

2676

Type

Skyscraper

Parent Location

Khar'Ak 'Than

Owning Organization

Ak'Thakran Commonwealth