Hestia Chambers

"There is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction..." - Andrew Ryan This article falls within the scope of the BioShock Wiki:Businesses Project. This project is dedicated to improving the articles about Rapture and Columbia's many businesses. Would you kindly help the BioShock Wiki by volunteering on the project page?

Dim lights, broken city.

“I hand these mugs a cot and a bowl of soup, and they give me their lives. Who needs an army when I got Fontaine's Home for the Poor?”

― Frank Fontaine

Located in the southern portion of Apollo Square, Hestia Chambers is sub-district that was used both by Frank Fontaine as a front for multiple operations in Rapture and by Atlas as a base for his followers. There is no requirement for the player to pass through this area, but for those interested in the complete story, as well as achievement-seekers, Hestia Chambers is essential to check out.

History

While many of the apartment buildings in Apollo Square were built to provide only the most basic necessities to Rapture's workers, the complex in Hestia Chambers was one of the most spartan. The apartments were smaller, multiple families were crammed into the same rooms, and the building felt more like a slum than a place to call home.

When Frank Fontaine began to see the advantage of having the increasing numbers of Rapture's poor on his side, he bought out the entire apartment complex and turned it into Fontaine's Home for the Poor, offering free housing for those down on their luck. Ryan disliked this place greatly, as he felt that these people were Parasites. Fontaine also established a Little Sister's Orphanage at the site, as many of the residents couldn't afford to feed their daughters, providing Fontaine with a large number of potential Little Sisters.

When tensions between Ryan and Fontaine reached critical, Fontaine began splicing up the residents with Plasmids from his own company, Fontaine Futuristics, and providing them with arms for war. Fontaine's poorhouse followers were easily defeated by Ryan Security, and Ryan had Fontaine's Home for the Poor shut down, along with the fake Orphanages after Fontaine's death.

Many of Fontaine's followers who avoided imprisonment in his department store remained in Hestia, and quickly joined sides with Atlas. During the Civil War, Atlas even used Hestia as his own Headquarters, taking advantage of the disillusioned inhabitants Fontaine had left behind.

BioShock

Decorative street light in the form of the deity Hestia.

Main article: BioShock

The Hestia Chambers area is located just off the main square guarded by a sandbag-barricaded Machine Gun Turret.

Tram Tunnel

The tram connected the apartment-dwellers up to the main square and other residents down to the Rapture Metro. A Security Camera looks As Jack approaches the platform a Thuggish Splicer and a Security Bot-toting Leadhead Splicer come sauntering up the track from below. Ghostly images recount the time when the place was the site of a Pro-Fontaine rally.

Fontaine's Home for the Poor

Fontaine's helping hand.

One of the main poor houses was located at the Hestia Chambers in Apollo Square. The building was five stories high, plus a Boiler Room, all of which can be accessed by the player. The structure contained a central atrium which goes all the way up the five floors to the glass windowed ceiling, with stairs ascending around the rim. In many ways, the building resembled New York City tenements, with clotheslines draped between the tall, close windows of the adjacent floors. Each floor greatly resembled Artemis Suites: there was minimal, if any, decoration. Rows of bunk beds filled the dilapidated interior, with communal kitchen areas on some levels.

New Discoveries

Single Use

• 1 Power to the People

New Plasmids and Tonics (Found)

• Focused Hacker 2

Audio Diaries

1. Diane McClintock - Meeting Atlas - Hestia Chambers, Fontaine's Home for the Poor right of entrance inside steamer trunk.
2. Frank Fontaine - The Longest Con - Hestia Chambers, Atlas' headquarters on the desk next to the Tonic.
3. Diane McClintock - Today's Raid - Hestia Chambers, Atlas' headquarters on a corpse near the safe.

Gallery

Tenement-style living.

Danger lurks everywhere.

The apartment buildings glass ceiling.

BioShock 2 Multiplayer Loading Screen Post Card

Behind the Scenes

Concept art by Robb Waters.

• Like many places in Rapture, Hestia takes its name from ancient Greek mythology. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and home. She is depicted as the statue at the entrance. This is fitting, given the Hestia Chambers provided housing for the less fortunate citizens of Rapture.
• As seen in the concept art, Hestia Chambers originally had a marquee bearing its original name which would have hung above the entrance. In the final version of the game, the Fontaine's Center marquee now hangs above the door, while Hestia's original marquee has been reworked into a wall decoration around Apollo Square.