Houses of Parliament

The New Prosperity Empire Houses of Parliament is a large, palace-like facility located just outside New Prosperity City. It serves as the official meeting point for the ruling parts that make up the New Prosperity Empire according to the Great Movement plan. Made up of three massive buildings, a surrounding wall and a central plaza, the assembly that makes up the Houses of Parliament is one of the largest construction projects on the server (only bested by the Citadels built by Kesslers' Legion.) While it is true that the New Prosperity Empire technically has no government, the Parliamentary buildings act as a common place for the major players of the Empire to meet.

Construction Start
With the success of the New Prosperity Empire and a lack of new projects to begin, Tlo1995 suggested to GeneralCuster14 to build the Houses of Parliament for the New Prosperity Empire. The two players had built similar structures on other servers in the past, and figured that the building would serve as a "bragging right" for the New Prosperity Empire to demonstrate its success. The two worked hard to clear out a massive section of land just north of New Prosperity City and started construction work immediately.

The initial progress was fast, as the New Prosperity Empire held abundant resources of stone, dirt and sand necessary to fill in the enormous area where the building would be assembled. After the foundation for the project had been set, GeneralCuster14 decided to change the overall layout: Rather than build one large building, as the team had done before, multiple buildings with different roles would be constructed instead. Originally, the plan called for two very large buildings at either end of the plaza (one building for each side of the Empire), but as the nation continued to expand, it became apparent that each side having its own assembly would be impractical. Instead, One side of the plaza was devoted to a national library and International Assembly, while the second was devoted to the actual Houses of Parliament to rule over the Empire as a whole. The central plaza area would contain a water fountain and other decorations as needed.

Building the National Library and International Assembly
By April (about a week after the initial start of construction), the plaza assembly began with the water fountains being the first (and by far simplest) addition. After the construction of smoothstone roads, the area was divided for three separate buildings, with the first two being a national library and the other an international assembly for visiting nations. Stone brick was imported for the enormous projects, draining all of New Prosperity City's stone factory of its output and putting a great toll on the entire Empire's stone-production industry. Wood also became an increasinly rare resource in the Empire as numerous stacks were used for the roofing of the buildings, as well as internal structures. Multiple types of trees were imported from other factions to help with construction as well.

While the library and its tower were fairly easy to build, the international assembly was much more difficult. Copious amounts of stone were used for the overall structure, while stained glass was mass-produced for the first time in the Empire's history. The glasswork fell into the hands of Tlo1995 was GeneralCuster14 worked on the facility's overall shape. While it was originally planned to have a peaked roof, the International Assembly was given a relatively flat roof with wooden steps serving as shingles toward the top. The roof was also double-layered with wooden planks under the shingles, as to avoid having the roof leak during the occasional rainstorm.

By mid April, construction of the International Assembly and national library was finished, but overall construction of the project stagnated, as other, more urgent projects were started. During this time, the Anarchia Islands were annexed, also putting a strain on the construction schedule. After a few weeks of rest (and other projects,) Tlo1995 and GeneralCuster14 continued work on the buildings, now joined by Fallofshadows after a long period of hiatus.

Building the Houses of Parliament
By May of 2014, the team finally started constructing the Houses of Parliament itself, a massive undertaking by the crew of three. To make matters worse, the immediate stores of raw goods needed had been depleted entirely: stone was becoming harder to produce due to silk-touch picks being worn out, glowstone for lighting was non-existent and glass was surprisingly rare, even in the desert. To help the project, GeneralCuster14 had Fallofshadows work in the New Prosperity stone factory, while Tlo1995 would work in the unit on Coda, his native territory. GeneralCuster14 himself focused on constructing the building.

At first, things seemed to be going well, but the first building was not popular among the players, and was demolished. After more planning and even more resource gathering, a new, two-story parliament building was constructed, this one in favor of the residents. Unfortunately, during a mining trip, GeneralCuster14 accidentally lost his own silk-touch pick, a tool necessary for stone production. While the other two players continued gathering stone, progress slowed considerably.

Despite the setbacks, GeneralCuster14 and Tlo1995 were able to finish the building, which featured a front awning and porch made of Nether quartz, yet another first for the Empire. To set the building apart from the others, a large "dome" was built at the top out of quarts and was fitted with an iron and gold pylon. Once the "shell" of the building was finished, the windows were set in place by GeneralCuster14, using much less stained glass to give the structure a clean appearance.

Finishing Construction
GeneralCuster14 and Tlo1995 harvested numerous types of trees to furnish the interior of the buildings. Dark Oak was used for the flooring, regular oak for the roofing and spruce for "furniture" and podiums. Glowstone chandeliers were mounted in the International Assembly and Parliament itself, requiring numerous Nether expeditions to harvest the enormous amounts of stone needed. The interior of Parliament itself was divided into several rooms and areas, with the second floor being mostly void of furnishings and other things to distract players. It is mostly seen as a contemplation area of sorts, with open windows to gaze out of.

After the end of construction, the walls surrounding much of the northern part of New Prosperity City were demolished, with plans to reset them once other, newer pojects are finished. While overall construction of the Houses of Parliament is finished, there are still plans to decorate the area.

Trivia

 * With the amount of different resources and resource types used, the Houses of Parliament act as the most diverse construction project ever undertaken by the server's players.
 * So much stone was used for construction that both the Coda and New Prosperity stone factories were pushed to their limits. Even now, after the end of construction, the stone stores in the Empire are still depleted entirely.
 * Almost 27 stacks of glass were used to fill in all the windows of the entire assembly.
 * Over two stacks of quartz were used to build the front face of Parliament and its dome.
 * The wooded areas that surround New Prosperity City have been greatly reduced due to the need for wood to finish Parliament.