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Wayne Manor - Rear Reflecting Pool — Description

Fourteen miles north of Gotham City lies stately Wayne Manor, home of billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises. . .
It has always puzzled (and amused) me that Wayne Manor is depicted differently nearly every time it is seen. The comic book depictions have changed repeatedly over the years, as have the onscreen TV and movie depictions.
In fact, on more than one occasion, a director has depicted Wayne Manor one way for his initial movie, and then that same director has shown it completely differently in the sequel!
Somehow this complete lack of consistency never seems to upset the fans. We take it all in stride without ever batting an eye!
Apparently, the only critical features that are really important to include in any version of Wayne Manor are that it should be:
1. Big
2. Expensive
3. Impressive
4. Includes some design cues that hint at “castle.” This seems to give the mansion a greater sense of “larger than life” adventure and makes us think about knights and chivalry which are great notions to associate with Bruce Wayne and Batman.

With all that in mind, I thought it might be fun to come up with my own design for Wayne Manor. But since it could be “anything,” I wasn’t really sure where to start.
Then, the other day, I read somewhere that some earlier version of Wayne Manor had been depicted in the shape of the letter “W” for Wayne. I never saw the actual design, but I thought it was an intriguing idea. For a minute, I wondered if that was a cool idea or a tacky idea. Then I thought, it might be a fun challenge to try to design my version of Wayne Manor around that idea, with the goal to see if I could manage to incorporate this feature without the "W-theme" becoming too obvious or tacky. Soon, I was off and running. This is what I came up with.
NOTE: My system really isn’t set up for realistic architectural renderings or terrain, so these are just rough concept images, perhaps useful for reference in a roleplaying game, rather than photo-realistic renderings.

Design Features:
90-Degree Angles
By making the “W” out of “wings” that were oriented at normal 90-degree right angles (as opposed to the acute angles generally seen on the letter “W,”) I took most of the “weirdness” of out the design. The eye generally expects this kind of building to be structured with 90-degree angles, so I think this was an important first step, in making the W less conspicuous to the viewer. The “W” also creates a nice welcoming “harbor” at the front entrance, and an interesting shape for the back porch area.
Collegiate Gothic
I “aped” a number of design cues from the Collegiate Gothic architectural style that one sees on many college campuses. “Stately Wayne Manor,” as depicted in the 1966 Batman TV series also reflects this style, so this approach is rooted in existing Batman pop culture. I included steep roofs, stone elements, pointed arches, and quoins to drive home this style. I believe that I may have made the windows a little larger than what one normally sees on Collegiate Gothic. This would make the interior brighter, and tends to give the whole structure a more modern feeling. I lived in a dorm with this style for 4 years, so some of this felt very familiar. The yellowish tan color of the bricks is a nod to the buildings of my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.

Castle Design Cues
Wayne Manor usually has some “castle-esque” design cues. Even if it’s just a suit of armor in the hallway, these sorts of cues are meant to connect Bruce (and by extension Batman) to history and the ideals of knightly chivalry. I took things a bit further here, adding three large castle turrets, four tourelles (added to the corners) and some crenulated features. I also borrowed a mish-mash of ideas from Neuschwanstein Castle, (which is primarily Romanesque Revival.) Neuschwanstein itself is a mish-mash of styles too, incorporating Byzantine and Gothic elements to create it’s “classic fairytale” feeling. Incidentally, I imagine that some of the large towers in my Wayne Manor might hold modern elevators to provide easy access between floors.
Size
I didn't bother with all the complexities of an interior layout, but I wanted to make it large enough that you could imagine it having plenty of room for whatever Bruce Wayne might need: a grand dining room, a ballroom, a pool, maybe an area for archery, plenty of guest rooms, a study, library, master bedroom, etc.

Entry Gates
One often sees fancy automatic entry gates on big impressive mansions, and I thought that might work well here. There is one gate for entry, then a long looping driveway, leading up to the mansion, and then out again to the exit gate.
Reflecting Pools
I included two reflecting pools with fountains. I think they add a lovely impressive upscale elegance to the manor.

Widow’s Walk
So many of the Batman’s adventures take place on rooftops that I decided to add a widow’s walk at the peak of the roof. I could just sort of imagine the Riddler (or some other villain) trying to break into Wayne Manor and encountering the Batman way up on that rooftop.
Terrace
I included a large back porch area for parties, looking out over the rear reflecting pool. Alfred needs a proper area in which to throw parties after all.
Wheelchair Access
The stairways are an impressive way to lead up to the front entrance, but I added ramps to the front and back to make Wayne Manor accessible. I made them central so that they didn’t look like an awkward afterthought.
Bats
If you look at this from just the right angle and squint, you can almost see the outline of a bat, with the two pointed towers acting as the tall ears.
Apologies
Apologies to actual architects who know what they are doing. I’m not an architect. I’m just sort of “dabbling,” so I’m certain that I am probably breaking a zillion rules of proper architecture and proportion with this design. Sorry! Anyway, this is all just comic book fan art, so hopefully you will cut me some slack.
Try it Yourself!
If you haven’t yet tried designing your own Wayne Manor, I highly recommend it as a fun design challenge. What qualities and features do you think it should include?