The Moonbase
The Moonbase is LoadingReadyRun (and by extension Bionic Trousers Media)'s office and studio. Five separate offices have been referred to as "The Moonbase" in 4 different buildings (the building that contained the first two has since been demolished).
In his childhood, Graham was a fan of Space: 1999, a British 1970s TV series in which a colony called "Moonbase Alpha" hurtles aimlessly through space. In early LRRcasts, he and Paul began referring to the office as the "Secret Orbiting Underground Bunker", a name which they enjoyed due to the absurd image of a base that is both in orbit and underground. The title was eventually shortened to "Moonbase", and upon moving the terminology "mark X" (commonly used in military technology) was adapted to differentiate between Moonbases.
Graham's Tumblr is called Moonbase Alpha.
Moonbase Mk I
Moonbase from June 2008 to 30th May 2009 (~11 months).
This was the first space occupied by LoadingReadyRun - a single, small room in a building that looked like it should have been condemned. One of the walls was painted to function as a green screen. The Moonbase allowed the crew to store their many costumes and props in one place, and provide a place for meetings and LRRcasts.
Desert Bus for Hope 2 was held in Moonbase Mk I.
Moonbase Mk II
Moonbase from 31st May 2009 to 6th March 2010 (9 months, 7 days).
After the previous tenants trashed it, the moonbase was moved across the hall to the much larger second office. It had two rooms - a meeting and shooting area (the largest interior wall being turned into a green screen), and an office. This Moonbase was the site of LoadingReadyRun's first permanent set, the ENN set.
Desert Bus for Hope 3 was held in the Moonbase Mk II.
Moonbase Mk III
Moonbase from 7th March 2010 to 31st December 2015 (5 years, 9 months, 25 days).
Since the building containing the first two Moonbases was slated to be demolished, the crew searched for a new Moonbase. This Moonbase was split across two levels - the ground floor was shooting space (including a larger green screen and the transported ENN set, later the CheckPoint set) and prop storage. The upper floor consisted of a pair of offices (initially editing and shipping, later editing and streaming), a meeting and break area, and an on-site bathroom. A fictitious account of moving to the third Moonbase is seen in The Arms Race.
Desert Buses 4, 5, 6, and 7 were held in the Moonbase Mk III.
Moonbase Delta
1st January 2016 to 14th August 2017 (1 year, 7 months, 14 days).
In the Youtube Update for December 2015, Graham announced plans to move the Moonbase to a new office in January 2016. Similar to Moonbase Mk III, it was a space shared with another tenant. Unlike Mk III, Moonbase Delta was only on one floor, and had a shared bathroom.
The move to Moonbase Delta was partially sponsored by donations, celebrated by displaying their names on the Load-Bearing Gratitude Wall
Entrance was via a short but wide corridor, with the Logo Wall on the left. This opened out into a large main area with bins, cubbies, coat racks and the Feature Pillar on the left, and an area of couches on the right - nicknamed the Friend Zone. Around the corner from the Logo Wall was the Load-Bearing Gratitude Wall and the door to the editing office, with 3 workstations. To the right was a door to the rest of the floor, including the shared toilet. Further right, through the cubby area, was the kitchen, nicknamed the Bill Watt Memorial Food Zone. Opposite the entrance corridor was a smaller corridor with seperate prop, costume and equipment rooms. At the far end were the two streaming studios - Studio B was the small gaming streaming studio and Studio A was the AFK streaming studio.
Despite being larger than Mk III, Moonbase Delta was the first Moonbase to not host a Desert Bus event.
Moonbase Mk V
15th August 2017 to present (2 years at time of last edit).
In the Youtube Update for July 2017, Graham announced that they would be moving the Moonbase again. Similar to Moonbase Delta, it was a space shared with other tenants and was on a single floor, but this time on the second floor. Unlike any previous Moonbase, this space was formed by joining together two units within the building, with the internal layout being specified by LRR to suit their needs.
The Load-Bearing Gratitude Wall was transplanted, being expanded with the names of those who donated in support of the move to Mk V.
Entrance to Mk V is via a flight of stairs and a short exterior corridor. Upon entering there are two corridors, one to the left and on straight ahead. Heading straight ahead, the first door on the left is the equipment room, full of fancy cameras. The next door on the left is Studio C, the large away-from-keyboard studio. To the left is the mixing desk, door back into the equipment room and the AFK/TTSF/Long Game set. Ahead is the green screen wall and a myriad of cameras and monitors that can be turned to face either the AFK set or the LIVE/Panalysts set, which is opposite it. On the ceiling is an impressive lighting rig, anchored into the concrete of the roof of the building. Returning to the corridor, there is just one more door at the end, which is the long and thin prop room, complete with bed. Returning to the entrance and heading left instead, the door on the right is to Studio B, the Podcast and CheckPoint studio, with it's barn-board backdrop and custom table. At the end of the corridor is the bathroom, and to the left is the archway into the second unit. Immediately inside the second unit is the Friend Zone, where the friends are. To the right are 3 doors, the first two are editing offices with 2 and 3 workstations respectively, and the last is Studio A, the gaming studio. Opposite Studio A is the new Load-Bearing Gratitude Wall, with old one on the wall between the two editing offices. At the end of the corridor is the kitchen and eating area, still the Bill Watt Memorial Food Zone. There's also a fire exit, cubbies and a door to the rest of the building.
With the additional space of an empty adjoining unit, Mk V hosted Desert Bus for Hope 2017.
