( Howard, Deveraux, and Oglethorpe Magical Designs and Constructions )
His ambitious plans for his family's docks were moving forward with unanticipated swiftness, with the finalization of numerous designs during this meeting.
Soon, construction efforts would begin on the docklands and the connecting alleys he now owned entirely, bringing new life into the abandoned area whilst hopefully lining his family's pockets with ridiculous amounts of gold for centuries to come. Smiling to himself, he looked over the plans for the reconstruction of magical Edinburgh, which continued to make him smirk in hidden glee at the sheer scale of his plans.
It was pure Slytherin ambition coupled with legendary Gryffindor boldness rolled together in one colossal project, requiring a ton of Hufflepuff-style hard work and tenacity. All executed with the rational and logical mindset of a consummate Ravenclaw at the helm. The founders would have been so proud.
He was effectively building a magical town and cultural centre according to his own design, all shaped around the idea of pure profit and logic. Yes, he was considering the project as a 'town.' To magical Britain's ancient standards, this may as well be considered a giant city. After all, it was not a single house or small retail shop he was rebuilding, but rather an entire magical community he was creating from the ashes of violence and war.
The whole project would take just under a quarter of a decade to complete; two years on the earlier side, maybe one and a half if he was extremely lucky and he was able to win over or crush the inevitable opposition.
The first stages of construction would centre around the building of sorely needed magical housing, roughly 160 houses to start. These could be rented out right away, providing a steady income stream, whilst at the same time using the revenue to rebuild the primary shopping districts to cater to the needs of the area's burgeoning population.
Then the second stage of construction would begin, with the construction of a second wave of 200 houses being built in other pockets of land he owned, spread out amongst non-magical Edinburgh, along with the opening of the higher-end retail stores and services, such as an upper-end hotel he planned to open in the more refined area of the city.
This hotel would hopefully cater to international business travellers and tourists, as well as host events in its multiple extravagant ballrooms, such as weddings, parties, business conferences, and conventions, etc.
Of course, the docks themselves would be undergoing construction during the first stages, due to the length of time they would require to complete. Finally, the last stage would be the remaining pockets of land being built upon, mainly housing, adding another 75 houses to the fold, bringing the total number up to 435 houses.
Naturally, the later plans could be altered and changed if need be, since it was only a rough plan he had made with sound advice provided by Bloodmoon and Sirius.
Examining the proposed plans for the Potter Dockyards once again in detail, he saw that the team of magical architects had improved upon the original designs and had added an additional pier to the docks, taking the total number up to five piers for ships to moor and load and unload their valuable cargo.
Hopefully, the legacy piers' foundations would still be intact, or could at least be salvaged and repaired, thus helping to cut down on costs rather than beginning anew. Naturally, they would have to be modified, and the harbour would most likely have to be dredged to remove debris from the seafloor, as well as deepen the harbour for larger modern vessels.
The ward stones buried on the sea floor would also have to be examined thoroughly to check that they still had full functionality after so many years.
Hopefully, the magically grown and hardened crystal ward stones, used most often for anchoring large-scale, long-term wards, would still remain in good condition, and they could be added upon to take into account new ward schemes and recent magical developments rather than having to totally replace them.
Using the existing ward stones would significantly reduce the total cost, as well as maintain the complex net of Muggle-repelling wards and illusions which hid the magical harbour and the entire area from detection by the Muggles.
Then there was the creation of a dry dock for magical ship construction, repair, and maintenance, which was something he had originally overlooked when considering the redevelopment of the area and the docks, giving him a new market to enter that the Potters had never historically engaged in. Considering his expansion of the docks and his plans to become a magical shipping powerhouse worldwide, it would be a good fit long-term.
The dry docks could be magically expanded to fit the necessary dimensions of each individual ship being worked upon, as long as there was enough space for the magic to work. In addition, weather-dampening and redirection wards were placed over the work area to help lessen the effects of negative weather and allow the crews to work year-round.
So, in winter, the snow would be mild. The wards would redirect the extra snowfall away from the work area into neat piles, whilst rain would be redirected to magical drains, helping to keep the site effective. In summer, the wards would help redirect the wind, helping to cool the site.
The snow could also be used for cooling and maintaining the temperature in warehouse units specializing in goods which required cold temperatures, such as potions and ingredients, rather than just relying on the stasis charm.
Naturally, to support this new business venture on the Potter lands, two new supporting buildings had been designed for the exclusive use of the ship construction business, connected together in a massive L-shape, essentially wrapped around the dry dock itself.
One building was meant to be a warehouse for storing materials for construction and repair works, such as basic lumber and tar. The other connected building beside it was to act as a workshop for the magical craftsmen.
The dry dock would have a built-in ramp for launching ships into the water once work was completed. Above the main construction floor were the official offices and conference rooms for management and meetings with customers, and supporting areas for the work crews, such as washrooms and a common diner/lounge for shift breaks to help keep the skilled workforce happy and content.
The yard manager offices for team leaders would also be located there, so they would not have to cross through the main retail areas, effectively isolating that half of the docks business at the far end of the docklands away from the public streets and shops, but could also use the internal Floo system to move about the various buildings and property quickly.
Thus, the dry dock's day-to-day operations and personnel would not interfere with the rest of the docklands' shipping operations. To help maximize space, spatial expansion wards and charms would be applied to the two buildings, tripling their internal volume from a 60 by 60 metre workroom to a 180 by 180 metre work area.
Of course, this came at the cost of tying up land capable of holding roughly 25 houses and their corresponding rents, but he considered it a fair exchange for gaining access to an additional market with such long-term potential.
The dry dock would give him another tool to help market the docks and win business in maintaining small- to large-sized vessels coming into the dock.
It would give him quite the competitive advantage over his competitors, as he had confirmed that no one else offered such joint services. It was a certainty that ships would need repair work after a time, even with magic. Magic, after all, can make them more durable, but eventually a repair charm just would not cut it anymore.
Then there were the main shipping docks, which had been the bread and butter of the Potter coffers for centuries. This area was coupled with three newly redesigned 100 metre by 50 metre rectangular warehouses for holding goods. One building would be an isolated, high-security warehouse for extremely valuable or volatile goods and commodities being temporarily held by the docks' customers. The three warehouses were each divided into three floors for storage.
According to the current plans, the basement would be for heavy goods and for items that needed specific environmental conditions, which would be created by specific weather charms and ward schemes. The second floor would be for lighter goods, and the top floor would be for lightweight consumer goods. The short-term goods held in storage would be put at the front of the warehouse for easy access, with long-term goods being put at the back of their respective areas.
Of course, strengthening charms and wards liberally applied to the buildings' structural framework would help support such heavy loads should they need to be placed on the upper floors due to a lack of space, but gravity still needed to be taken into account and was still doing everything it could to tear down structures if they were unsound, even magically created and maintained ones.
So, it was easier and would put less strain on the structures and wards if a healthy dose of Muggle logic was applied with the arrangement of the goods. Hopefully, this would translate to an extended lifespan for the wards and structures, and significantly reduced long-term maintenance costs and magic to power the wards themselves, thus resulting in greater profits and site productivity.
That was one useful thing he picked up from his cursed uncle's ranting. Time was money in business. You were always looking for ways to make the business more efficient and effective; lower overall expenses meant greater profits.
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