Upadaria

The official headquarters of the virtual Commonwealth, the NGO, and the Upadaria™n Society of America, Riqueday™ Castle will also be the main hub for Riqueday™ Village. This village will be the main support hub for the distributed city, Riqueday™ City, USA, and for the regional chapter organization, The Crown Regency of Upadaria™.

The Castle will be self-sustaining and all the roofs will contain PV materials while heating will come from geothermal and local natural gas, if available. Natural gas will also provide extra energy when needed, especially for the micro-factory.

Ideally, the Castle will be carbon neutral and have zero negative environmental impact. The Castle is part of a larger Village plan, including the Citadel area around the Castle, which will include greenhouses and farm towers as well as wind and hydro power.

The Castle will contain some refugee housing, some official residences, administration facilities and offices, a large cyber center, an intelligence center, a marketplace, visitor suites and a hotel. The Crown Prince Regent of the NGO will have an official residence on the top of the Keep.

The Keep will contain 12 apartments (5 local official residences and 7 guest residences for visiting High Council members), a restaurant, administration offices, the main information and intelligence center, a social hall, and a meeting hall.

The plan is to build the Keep, then the first section around the keep, then the market area, and then the final section around the market area. The first section will contain more official residences, more refugee housing, local support staff residences, a micro-factory, and more offices. The market area will contain shops with some residences for shop owners, a food court, and common facilities like a gym and a holistic health center.
The final section will contain the hotel, residences for members of the NGO, emergency supplies, and more shops and common facilities like a library and shared office spaces.

Underground parking will ensure that the ugly presence of modern vehicles will not mar the landscape and take away from the overall appearance of the facility. As much as possible, the castle will be made from limestone and will contain hidden security features that are not obtrusive. This isn’t meant to be a “fortress" walled off from the world but more like a showpiece to attract tourists and to be a visual branding of our concept of manifesting the Kingdom among us.

In the unlikely event of a major catastrophic event, it would be possible to secure the site and to house up to 1500 people for a short period of time, but this is not considered a likely possibility and it is definitely not the purpose of the facility.

The facility will be self-sustaining through rents, the health facility, the micro-factory, the hotel, and other events and activities. The idea here is that the activities and public offerings on site will cover the building, maintenance cost, and taxes for the site.

The Castle will host living history events depicting WW2, ancient history, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and even Renaissance Fairs. People will come from all over the world to Riqueday™ Castle for training, especially for those building local chapter communities. Both the Castle and Riqueday™ Village will be a learning hub for the NGO and virtual Commonwealth.

Public tours of the castle and living history zones with artifacts from different eras will be a regular draw and have a positive impact on the local economy. Shops catering to these eras will further enhance the financial self-sustainability of the facility. Tours of the region, famous for its mountain views, will also be conducted from the hotel for guests.