The spectre of nuclear war is looming, with Vladimir Putin broadening the criteria under which Moscow can deploy its fearsome atomic arsenal and Kremlin mouthpieces threatening to sink the UK under a ‘radioactive tidal wave’.
Sweden has warned its citizens to seek shelter in the event of a nuclear attack, while Norway and Denmark have issued advice on taking iodine tablets to protect against radiation in the event of a nuclear accident.
Among the mega-rich, more drastic preparations are being made, with many more investing in life-saving but also luxurious bolt-holes to see out doomsday over recent years.
‘It got really busy, and it seems like the phone hasn’t stopped ringing; World War III seems like it’s coming,’ Ron Hubbard, CEO of Texas-based Atlas Survival Shelters said earlier this year.
He was responding to news that Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg was building a 5,000-square-foot bunker under his Hawaiian ranch, something the shelter entrepreneur said that prompted ‘a buying frenzy.’
Appetite for secure underground lock-ups also increased amid uncertainty around the US election, bunker brokers claim, with sales reportedly booming over the past few months.
Hubbard’s is among a host of firms which stand ready to meet the increased demand, as the global security situation becomes increasingly uncertain.
Others include Rising S, which says it has built 14 bunkers in New Zealand; Survival Condo, which converts abandoned US missile silos into underground apartment blocks; and Swiss firm Oppidum, which offers ‘ultra-luxury’ bunkers for billionaires.
Here, MailOnline takes a look inside some of the most deluxe doomsday dugouts on the market, and plans for secret lairs that only billionaires can afford.
Swiss firm Oppidum builds bunkers beneath wealthy clients’ homes
The reinforced doors to the Survival Condo in Kansas, are guarded by security and surrounded by CCTV cameras and boasts bulletproof doors and tunnels
USA
America is the home of the ‘prepper’ community – with the number of people who are part of this survivalist movement doubling to 20 million since 2017, according to recent research.
While most focus on stocking up their homes or reinforcing their basements, those with disposable wealth turn to investing in bunkers, often in old military facilities.
One such shelter, developed by bunker company Vivos, was set up near the Black Hills of South Dakota, at a site consisting of 575 military bunkers that served as an Army Munitions Depot until 1967.
It was designed to accommodate about 5,000 people, with the interiors of each bunker kitted out by the owners at a cost of between $25,000 to $200,000 each.
The compound was designed with all the amenities of a small town, including a community theater, a school, gardens, a clinic, spa and gym. Vivos describes its bunkers as ‘The Backup Plan For Humanity’.
The ‘Survival Condo’ is another luxury bunker designed to protect buyers from a potential apocalypse, but rather than being a former shelter it instead began its life as a Cold War missile silo.
Vivos underground bunkers describe themselves as ‘The Backup Plan For Humanity’
Entrepreneur Larry Hall, a self-confessed doomsday ‘prepper’, bought the Kansas site in 2008, and transformed it into a luxury condo that can sustain 75 residents for more than five years.
The bunker descends 15 floors below the ground, each accessible by a high speed elevator. The communal areas are at the top levels, while the individual housing units sit below.
Constructed in the early 60s it was one of 72 structures designed to withstand a nuclear warhead 100 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Nagaski.
Hall bought the silo in 2008 for $300,000, after coming up with the idea following the devastation of the 9/11 attacks.
It houses a climbing wall, arcade, cinema, bar, and snooker room to keep residents entertained for years
Over the next two years, he had transformed the 200ft deep building into a self-sufficient bunker.
The only indication of the small community that lies below are the security guards and offices above ground, while the main entrance to the silo is a reinforced bulletproof door.
But Hall spent an estimated $20million converting it into a fortified shelter which features a library, classroom, medical centre, general store and an aquaponics area to grow vegetables.
It also houses a climbing wall, arcade, cinema, bar, and snooker room to keep residents entertained for years.
A library in the Survival Condo. The communal spaces are at the top of the complex while private living quarters are below
It has several different layouts for prospective buyers to choose from, including a 900-square-foot half-floor residence priced from $1.5million to a two-level, 3,600-square-foot penthouse that starts at $4.5 million.
As well as the price of buying a unit, owners must spend $2500 per month to cover the living expenses – food, Internet, electricity and water
‘All of our people are self-made millionaires. They’re very successful: doctors, engineers, lawyers, international business people… almost all of them have children,’ Hall said. ‘And they’re concerned about the ‘what if’ scenario.’
According to Hall, those scenarios include superstorms, tsunamis, earthquakes and economic collapse.
Following a surge in interest caused by the shock of the pandemic, Hall reportedly has several more projects in the works in the US, Europe and Asia.
A cross section of one of Survival Condos missile silo turned 75-person shelter. The company has one completed and a second in the works
Germany
Like its luxury bunkers in the US, Vivos Europa One shelter, in the German village of Rothenstein, promises to have both ‘life-saving’ capabilities and luxury finishes.
The firm describes it as ‘one of the most fortified underground survival shelters on Earth,’ built into a military base used during the Cold War.
It claims the facility is ‘capable of withstanding a substantial close range nuclear blast, a direct airliner crash, biological and chemical agents, massive shock waves, earthquakes, electro-magnetic pulses, flooding and virtually any armed attack.’
Pictures said to show the complex, which Vivos claims covers around 230,000 square feet, show futuristic interiors, were released in 2015.
Although the cost per apartment is not known, the property is reportedly valued at around $1.1billion – meaning it will likely be available only to the super-rich.
Each family buying a lot in the complex can expect a private 2,500-square-foot apartment, which the company says they can design and build to their own specifications.
They may decide to add a pool, a theater or a deluxe bathroom, and will also have access to a hospital area, several restaurants and a bakery, Vivos says.
Pictures said to show the complex, which Vivos claims covers around 230,000 square feet, show futuristic interiors, were released in 2015
Vivos has released pictures of swimming pools and other amenities in its underground bunker
Other common area amenities will include roadways, a wine cellar, prayer rooms, classrooms, a television station and a detention centre.
Families will pay a base sum for their apartment, along with their share of the costs for managing and staffing the complex, and other costs.
The investment could save their lives, Vivos says, as the 76-acre complex can survive a ‘substantial’ close-range nuclear blast or natural disaster.
In addition to its blast-proof living areas, the bunker also boasts 43,906 square feet of above-ground space, Forbes previously reported.
Underground, it features countless tunnel chambers, each with their own security system, and numerous sets of blast-proof doors with airtight seals.
It also has its own self-contained water and power generation system, as well as climate, ventilation, air filtration and communication systems.
Families will pay a base sum for their apartment, along with their share of the costs for managing and staffing the complex, and other costs
Switzerland
Switzerland is known for its obsession with nuclear bunkers, which stemmed from the Cold War drive to build enough for every citizen near their homes.
The wealthy Alpine country has pledged that each and every one of its more than 8.5 million residents could have a shelter space if needed, with nearly nine million spaces across 365,000 private and public shelters.
A proposed interior of an Oppidum bunker. The company assures billionaires that their life of luxury can continue past the end of times
The comfortable amenities offered by Oppidum in their billionaire doomsday bunkers
Many of these are former military forts, built into the mountainous terrain, and only guarantee people seeking shelter around one square metre of space each.
But rather than setting up shop in pre-existing wartime fortifications, one Swiss firm brings apocalypse-proof bunkers straight to their wealthy clients.
Oppidum claims to build state-of-the-art shelters underneath the mansions of ‘the most powerful individuals in the world’.
It unveiled its new L’ Heritage 10,760 square foot fortified underground bunkers described as ‘optimised for super-luxury everyday lifestyle, while prepared for all surface threats’, in 2022.
A rendering of a mansion from the luxury doomsday bunker builder Oppidum. The proposed bunker is hidden beneath the gardens in front of the house
An ‘Oppidum’, named after the Latin word for fortified town, is fully airtight and gastight and can be completely isolated from the outside atmosphere if required, such as in the case of a man-made or natural disaster.
Arriving by surface helicopter pad, home-owners can descend almost 50ft below ground to enter a huge garage space designed for prestige car collections.
They pass through an airlock, fully equipped as a decontamination chamber in case of radiation or chemicals on their bodies.
The subterranean homes can include art galleries, lounges, comfortable bedroom suites, indoor garden, spa and other leisure amenities for everyday use.
Oppidum offers survival bunkers complete with storage vaults for prized valuables
A proposal of a garage filled with valuable cars in an Oppidum super-luxury bunker
They can also be fitted with a vault to store collections of art masterpieces, gold, cash and other valuables.
An optional armoury can be installed built to NATO-standard ballistic and blast protection levels, using high-density concrete with the same formulation used to build nuclear power plants.
New Zealand
New Zealand is considered an ‘apocalypse escape destination for America’s elite,’ according to media theorist Douglas Roshkoff.
Millionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who gained residency in the country, had his plans for a bunker-style home there thwarted in 2022 over environmental concerns.
He had hoped to build a sprawling lodge into the hills overlooking South Island’s Lake Wanaka.
Rod Drury, the chief executive of the Thiel-backed New Zealand accounting software company Xero, previously said that American billionaires ‘treat New Zealand as a bit of a bolt-hole’.
PayPal co-founder, Reid Hoffman, told The New Yorker that among the world’s wealthiest New Zealand is quietly understood to be the place to hunker down in the event of calamity.
‘Saying you’re ”buying a house in New Zealand” is kind of a ”wink, wink, say no more”,’ Hoffman said.
Mr Thiel faced backlash from New Zealand eco-groups over plans for a sprawling luxury lodge built into the hills overlooking South Island’s Lake Wanaka, complete with a spa, meditation ‘pod’ and library
It is unknown how many doomsday bunkers have been built by the wealthy in New Zealand, but there have been reports of bunkers in three towns across the country
A proposed interior of a Rising S luxury survival bunker. The company has numerous model tiers
Entrepreneur Mihai Dinulescu famously left behind a cryptocurrency startup at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and fled to New Zealand with his wife.
Rising S, a Texas based luxury bunker builder offers an ‘Aristocrat’ model for $9.6million which comes with a swimming pool and bowling alley, among other amenities.
The company is thriving in New Zealand, with general manager Gary Lynch saying in 2022 that it had built 14 bunkers there and had more on order.
Out of preserving the paramount privacy of his customers, the firm declined to say where in the it had built them.
There are reportedly bunkers in Hamilton, Hanmer Springs and Wanaka.
