WICH
Studio
A self-sustaining broadcast and communications campus in the Great Smoky Mountains. Designed to remain operational during disasters — creative in peace, indispensable in crisis.
Fortress
A 3-story cylindrical command tower with a 40×40 ft hardened basement bunker. Houses the compound's network core, power controls, data vault, and primary emergency shelter. Includes electronics repair workstation and equipment testing area. EMP-hardened throughout.
View Specification →Station
A ~50 ft geodesic dome housing the LPFM broadcast studio, recording spaces, and the Signal Lounge — a fully stocked basement shelter and green room. The operational heart of the radio station.
View Specification →Annex
The compound's power generation and storage facility, attached to the Fortress. Houses solar inverters, main battery banks, generator controls, electrical distribution, and an electronics workshop.
View Specification →House
A 3-level wellness and sanitation facility. Basement holds mechanical systems, decontamination showers, and emergency bunks. First floor: locker room, 4 showers, hot soaking tub, 2 toilets, laundry with 2 washers and dryers. Second floor: sauna, cold plunge, full steam bath, meditation room, guest suite, and a cantilever wraparound porch.
View Specification →Nest
A compact off-grid caretaker cabin with loft sleeping area and energy-efficient appliances. Connected to compound utilities — power, water, and fiber network. Designed for year-round occupation by the compound caretaker.
View Specification →Power
- Solar Utility Annex — primary generation
- Battery bank — compound-wide storage
- Wind turbine supplement
- Multi-fuel generator backup — ATS
- Station secondary battery system
- UPS on all critical electronics
- Grid independent — zero utility dependency
Communications
- LPFM community broadcast radio
- HF HAM — regional / global
- VHF/UHF HAM — local / repeater
- GMRS — compound perimeter
- Meshtastic mesh nodes — compound-wide
- Starlink satellite internet
- Amateur satellite tracking
- Antenna mast — Fortress tower
Water
- Deep drilled well — primary supply
- Rainwater catchment — cistern system
- Sediment + carbon + UV filtration
- NBC filtration — Bunker sealed mode
- Greywater recycling — irrigation
- Perimeter sprinklers — wildfire defense
- Outdoor hydrants — fire suppression
Network
- Fiber optic backbone — all buildings
- Buried conduit — shielded runs
- Cable trays in tunnel — fiber and power
- Encrypted compound-wide LAN
- VPN gateway — secure external access
- Private cloud servers — EMP hardened
- Offline-capable — no internet dependency
- Meshtastic encrypted mesh overlay
Safety & Security
- Perimeter cameras — all zones
- Motion-activated lighting
- Smart locks with manual overrides
- Lightning protection — whole-compound
- Surge protection — all buildings
- Fire detection network
- Gas monitoring
- Emergency lighting — all structures
Shelter Capability
- Fortress Bunker — primary NBC shelter
- Signal Lounge — secondary shelter
- Tunnel 1 — Fortress Bunker → Station Basement
- Tunnel 2 — Station Basement → Bath House Basement
- Cable trays — fiber, power, utility — full length
- Emergency communications line — both tunnels
- Protected above-ground movement across all three main structures
- NBC filtration — both hardened spaces
- 90+ day provisions — Fortress Bunker
- 7-day sealed — Signal Lounge
- Two escape tunnel routes — Fortress
- Medical Bay — EMT level capability
- Bath House — emergency bunks in basement
Fire Resistance
- Rockwool mineral wool insulation — all structures
- Metal roofing throughout
- Fire-resistant exterior materials
- Minimal exposed wood
- Ember-resistant vents
- Wildfire defensible space
- Perimeter fire suppression sprinklers
Acoustic Design
- Double-stud wall construction
- Rockwool sound insulation
- Resilient channels
- Acoustic doors and seals
- Floating floors — studio areas
| Studios | STC 60+ |
| Bunker sleeping | STC 60+ |
| Living spaces | STC 50+ |
Environmental
- Smart humidistats — all floors
- Dehumidifiers — Smoky Mountain climate
- ERV / HRV ventilation systems
- Humidity monitoring network
- NC-25 studio noise target
- NC-30 shelter / lounge target
EMP & EMF
- Faraday core — server room + vault
- EMF shielding — studio and comms areas
- Shielded conduit throughout
- Surge suppression — all power entries
- EMP-rated workstations
- Faraday bag storage for spare devices
Built to shelter when others fall.
Built to connect when communities need it most.
Built to endure.
The WICH Studio Compound combines professional broadcast infrastructure, hardened emergency systems,
and community-focused design into a single resilient campus in the Great Smoky Mountains.
It operates as a creative media campus in ordinary times and a regional lifeline when the world needs a signal.