I have made a detailed description of a lot of the choices I made (albeit with a joking tone) that is slightly difficult to find, so here's the link for those interested:
In other words, I'm glad ya'll are enjoying the floorplan -- and if anyone would like to make suggestions for new floorplan projects, I'd love to hear them! (Though they'll probably take me a while to complete.)
If you'd rather not see my random fandom/crack posts, I have a second Tumblr dedicated to these sorts of things called @fandiagram which is solely dedicated to floorplans, scenic design, and more!
Hello old fans and newcomers alike of the Magnus Archives Podcast!
Creating a fanfic and need a consistent layout? Drawing fanart and needing inspiration? Look no further -- I have for you a fan created floorplan of the Magnus Institute that I drew in Procreate, because I like to make my life difficult.
Feel free to use my design to your heart's content. Just be sure to credit me if you use the images I've made.
Want to create a floorplan of your own for TMA? Or perhaps a fan-made map/diagram for another story? Add the tag, #fandiagram -- I'd love to see it!
[After making this, I am under the genuine impression that the Magnus Institute as described within the Magnus Archives is a product of the Spiral. Be prepared for a massive rant about how difficult it is to create a feasible layout based on the information in the podcast -- 'the Magnus Institute is a small building' my butt.]
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Here’s Why Things Are the Way They Are
The Overall Layout
Let me start off by stating that one of the characters (read: Oliver Banks), in podcast, describes the Magnus Institute (TMI) as small. SMALL.
Suffice it to say that I respectfully decline and offer you (what I deem) a medium sized building instead. Before you ask me, 'did you even try', I attempted to make two other layouts in the ‘small’ category that just. Did. Not. Work. So yeah. No small Magnus Institute for you.
The only reason I didn’t make it 'large' is because of a bit of research I did into probable locations of TMI, where none of the buildings were taller than four floors, or could be considered large by any stretch of the imagination. In terms of facade and size, I think TMI is kind of like a Starbucks on a college campus. It isn’t distractingly out of place, but you can find it easily enough.
Most of the more interesting shapes in the various floor layouts are the result of scouring Google maps and historical images for architecture typical of the 1800s. While it’s entirely possible for the building to have been gutted between now and then, I like to think of the Magnus Institute as being a preserved historical building, one that can’t be completely replaced without losing that status. Which is, unfortunately, why it doesn’t have an elevator/lift either.
Ground Floor Rooms
On this floor lies the rooms that gave me the greatest trouble: the Boiler Room and Artefact Storage.
The source of my difficulties? MAG 038-040, three episodes wherein the amount of setting descriptions provided is greater than the sum of the descriptions found in the other 197 episodes. The entire Prentiss scene is extremely difficult to justify in a building with a feasible layout that can be designated as ‘small’ or even ‘medium’.
Here are the most important points I used making this floor, just for easy reference:
Elias and Sasha have to find the boiler room ‘a few floors down’
The worms are on the upper floor (possibly the ground floor, one floor above the basement)
Elias and Sasha have to ‘turn a corner’ to see a ‘tidal wave of filth’ rushing towards them
Elias has to 1) lose Sasha, who finds her way into Artefact Storage and 2) take a roundabout route that requires 10-15 minutes to reach the boiler room (with one close call)
There are multiple corridors, only one of which contains the filth mass
Artefact Storage does not have any windows.
I spent so much time considering whether the Artefact Storage and the Boiler Room were in the basement or not — and I have been working on an alternate layout somewhere to do just that, if anyone’s interested — but ended up settling on the first floor because a lot of the descriptions didn’t line up with the idea of either of those rooms being in the basement. Elias’ ‘alternate route’ and ‘corridors’ from MAG 040 were one such description.
I also couldn’t bring myself to justify lugging a table all the way down to the basement.
(The reception, break room, toilets, and an administrative office are all located on this floor largely due to convenience and/or logic.)
First Floor Rooms
This was the easiest floor to design. I didn’t want it to be too far from the research floor or Artefact Storage, and I knew that the library deserved its own floor. Simple, effective, and logical. I gave the head librarian an office, too. It’s what Diana deserves.
Second Floor Rooms
So, as it turns out, to run a business you need more than just the spooky parts. This includes offices for workers that are essential to keeping the company running. Marketing, accounting, the like. I also read on the wiki that the Magnus Institute has approximately 80 workers and couldn’t justify not having this floor.
If you’ll notice, the HR department has an office smaller than the toilets. This is because Jonah Magnus deems it nonessential. The janitorial staff, however, are both very important and very well stocked, so they get one of the larger rooms.
Third Floor Rooms
TMA explicitly states that researchers work on the third floor. Therefore, the research room is on the third floor. What is not explicitly stated is whether or not the floor levels are based on the British English floor system (which would make sense), where the ground floor is street level and the first floor is one level above, or the American English floor system (which would not make sense), where the first floor is on street level. I went for the obvious choice.
As for Elias’ office being on the third floor, in MAG 039 Elias states that there’s a manual release for the Archive’s fire suppression system “a few floors down”. Originally, I wanted his office to be on the second floor, or the first. In the end, I got a bit stuck on the idea of “a few”, which seems like it’s more than two, so all the way up to the top went Elias’ office. It stayed up there for character purposes — namely, the idea of Jonah Magnus being able to watch the city from his office.
Basement Rooms
In the basement is, of course, the Archives. Surprisingly, despite how much of the podcast takes place in the Archives, the layout is just as nebulous as the rest of TMI.
Here are a few notable details I used in planning, all from MAG 038-040:
In the Archives, there is an office (likely small and intended for statement recording)
There’s an entrance to the tunnels in the Archives
There’s a storeroom intended for statements/files that need more care
From the storeroom, the office is visible, as is the door to the Archives.
While the second break room and toilets are not mentioned in the podcast, I thought I’d include them because it makes sense to me that a spacious area with only one exit has options in case of an emergency.
I am almost absolutely certain that I misinterpreted the description of the Archives, but alas, I won’t be remaking it for a while. The new version can wait until I’ve regained my sanity.
About the Stairs
The odd positions for the stairs are the result of trying to reason my way through the descriptions provided in MAG 038-040. My idea was that he and Sasha would descend all the way to the ground floor using the stairs closest to his office, only to run back up after meeting with a wall of corruption.
At first, I thought that Elias’ “roundabout” route to reach the Boiler Room (MAG 040) would have him dashing through the library and down the other set of stairs, so that particular set of stairs by the Boiler Room only went up to the library floor.
Then I thought it would be hysterical if Elias didn’t even bother running through the library because he is genuinely terrified of the librarians. (He tries to justify his actions by stating he wanted to extend Jon’s exposure to the corruption and Sasha’s encounter with the table, but he’s lying.) So in went another set of stairs.
TL;DR
The Magnus Archives is a wonderful podcast with descriptions that are highly immersive while allowing for a lot of interpretation by fans, which is something I've always appreciated in storytelling. Although I’m certain those at the Rusty Quill have their own layout, unless they choose to release all the specific details, the Magnus Institute truly is what we make of it.
Also, Elias’ description of the Prentiss invasion can get burrowed into by worms :)
Me trying to explain the Magnus Institute layout according to the Prentiss Incident™
A Few Sources
Thoughts on layout and location of Magnus Institute
Robert Smirke (architect) - Wikipedia
Donald Insall Associates | Historic Buildings Research - Donald Insall Associates
Mostly Google Images of random 1800s buildings located in Britain and searches for reasonable building dimensions. (Never thought I'd Google, 'how big does a restroom need to be', but here we are.)
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