In 2026, Aerie – a multimillion-dollar members-only bunker – is due to be unveiled in Virginia, USA. It's a place where the world's wealthiest will be able to seek shelter in turbulent times while rubbing shoulders with fellow elites.

While it may seem like an unnecessary indulgence to some, more people than ever are building backyard bunkers, going off-grid or reserving space in high-end hideaways. Even billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are getting in on the action. 

Click or scroll through the gallery to discover everything Aerie's ultra-opulent secure sanctuary has to offer...

Aerie – which will reportedly cost around $300 million (£231m) to build – will be a secure structure packed with protective features, extraordinary experiences and seriously opulent extras. Each facility is a NBCET sanctuary, which means it protects against nuclear, biological, chemical, electromagnetic pulse and technological attack. 

And there won't be just one Aerie. Eventually, there'll be an exclusive network of them, with one in each US state and a total of 1,050 worldwide, according to founder Al Corbi, whose company SAFE (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments) has provided security to the world's wealthiest since 1971. 

Aerie is the brainchild of Al and his wife Naomi. Their company SAFE designs and delivers bespoke protection systems, offering clients everything from high-end natural disaster and bioterror shelters to panic rooms and off-shore anti-piracy packages.

After building fortress-style homes for their clients, the Corbis noticed that, when the super-rich travel, they usually stay in places that offer far less protection. And so the idea of Aerie was born. It will offer billionaires a choice of emergency boltholes to shelter in should they come under threat while away from home – all without forgoing life's luxuries. 

Membership to Aerie is open to just 625 of the world's 'most elite' individuals. Each location will be staffed and will feature a members' club above ground, with a vast – and luxurious – network of fortified bunkers below. 

Naomi Corbi describes Aerie as a "home away from home" for their most "famous and infamous clients" and says they have had "thousands" of application requests from one percenters around the world, according to Realtor.com.

There are four membership tiers, the lowest of which will be affordable to a "moderately successful CEO" while the top tier will be invitation only, Naomi revealed to Realtor.com. 

While a $20 million (£15.5m) fee has been mentioned in the press, Naomi insists it's not a figure they have disclosed.

"Aerie has never released membership financial information and does not intend on doing so to the public, ever", she tells loveMONEY.

"There is a high level of vetting for members and their privacy is of utmost importance to us, so we will not be disclosing the amounts of these memberships or the bunkers they purchase."

From the look of this elaborate lair, we're guessing membership certainly won't come cheap.

In these turbulent times, we might imagine it'll be war or a nuclear event that will send us all scurrying to our bunkers. However, Al Corbi believes civil unrest is the most likely threat we'll need to seek refuge from. But how realistic is that scenario? 

“Imagine a massive solar flare annihilating the global grid, plunging the world into chaos,” he told Forbes. “Within hours, supply chains collapse, society unravels and civil unrest erupts. This isn’t fiction – it’s a likely reality.”

Billionaires around the world seem to agree. Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly built a 5,000-square-foot (465sqm) shelter under his Hawaiian compound, while Bill Gates is said to have bunkers beneath all his properties. 

In 2025, SAFE is due to complete an island fortress built on a 200-acre (81ha) property, Al Corbi revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. The central compound is surrounded by a 30-foot (9m) deep moat filled with water and a flammable liquid that can turn the moat into a ring of protective fire. A swing bridge is the only way to cross the deadly lake.

Drawing on SAFE's long history of home protection, each Aerie will be guarded by security teams as well as a range of innovative protective features.

Elegant chandeliers, for example, can be triggered to explode at the touch of a button, deterring or neutralising intruders in seconds.

Foggers like this one can be located throughout a building to mist pepper spray or a sleeping compound into the air to stop trespassers in their tracks. Meanwhile, residents can hunker down safely in their sealed safe room or bunker and wait for the threat to pass.

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Aerie will be as opulent as any high-end hotel or private club a billionaire might frequent.

However, these particular residences will have hidden extras – like a concealed tactical wall (left) and a kitchen island that moves aside to reveal a secret entrance to a hidden escape passage (right).

If needed, drop floors and hidden doors will enable residents to melt out of sight and escape via secret passageways. 

We wouldn't mind making our way down this futuristic-looking tunnel, which has seating areas to pause at while waiting for the all clear.

Beneath ground, the facility will be just as luxurious as the members' club above – but Aerie doesn't just provide physical offerings.  

Members will gain exclusive access to digital innovations including avatars, blockchain technology and "proprietary gold-backed digital currency". After all, digital assets would be crucial in a world where physical ones become harder to access or are destroyed. 

While geography will dictate exactly how many underground storeys each location will have, the number will range from a minimum of two right up to 20. The largest Aerie could hold up to 200 subterranean apartments.

Below ground, individual suites cover a roomy 2,000 square feet (186sqm), while the multi-level penthouses span a massive 20,000 square feet (1,860sqm). 

The plush tech-forward interiors balance the "highest level of security with our clients' other needs for comfort, entertainment, pleasure and aesthetic satisfaction", Naomi tells loveMONEY.

"Long-term aesthetic satisfaction" is highly important. After all, it could be quite some time before it's safe for members to venture above ground again.

Residential spaces like this beautiful kitchen and dining room bring to mind the chic cave hotels of Matera, Italy and Cappadocia, Turkey.

With plenty of seating and a kitchen no doubt packed full of top-of-the-range appliances, members will have everything they need to enjoy cosy family time or entertain their fellow billionaire bunker dwellers.

Underground areas – like this breathtaking swimming pool – might be hidden hundreds of feet below the Earth's surface, but members won't feel hemmed in.

Thanks to futuristic tech, many rooms will feature hyper-realistic views to stave off claustrophobia. 

"We work with lighting engineers, air quality and enrichment specialists to ensure clients do not feel like they are underground or confined," says Naomi.

Even without digital views, underground living looks pretty chic to us!

While all the luxurious extras will make underground life more enjoyable, Aerie's essential features are what's truly important. 

A hydroponics system will provide members with fresh food, while decontamination chambers can help remove hazardous materials from those entering the bunker, such as infectious material, chemicals and radioactive substances. 

Naomi Corbi is SAFE's Director of Medical Preparedness. She's noted a growing demand for wellness and longevity features in their fortified residences, particularly in a post-pandemic world. After all, whether you're sheltering from attack or riding out a nuclear winter, your health is going to be your top priority. 

Aerie will feature a range of medical and wellness features, including MediSHIELD – AI-powered residential medical suites complete with full intensive care and "cutting-edge robotic services".

"MediSHIELD provides the highest level of emergency, preventive and longevity-centered medical care", says Naomi, a registered nurse and Biochemistry graduate. 

"Should an event jeopardize a client's health, the medical provisions are designed to provide time-sensitive, lifesaving and life-sustaining support. They are also equipped to handle bioterror attacks similar to the installations we provide in our SAFE clients' personal homes."

The facilities include a hyperbaric chamber that provides oxygen therapy. By breathing in 100% oxygen in a pressurised environment, users' lungs absorb more oxygen, which aids the body in healing and even resisting infection.

It can also help treat crush injuries, wounds, burns and radiation injuries – all of which could occur in an end-of-the-world scenario. 

This relaxing treatment room has been designed for Aerie members to receive IV therapy. Fluids and medication can be directly administered into the bloodstream via an IV, ensuring a rapid dose is delivered when needed.

Meanwhile, IV vitamin therapy delivers vitamins into the body intravenously to treat deficiencies or physical conditions. It's easy to see how this would benefit patrons hunkering down in their Aerie. For example, a boost of vitamin D – which we usually get from sunlight – would certainly be helpful while living underground.

If you haven't heard of the benefits of cold water immersion therapy yet, you must have been living in a cave – or a bunker – for the last few years. Cryotherapy, as it's also known, is said to help ease muscle pain and inflammation, improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels, boost the immune system and even ease depression.

Aerie will offer ice plunge rooms like this one to help members thrive during their time underground.

Of course, a wellness retreat wouldn't be complete without traditional therapies like massage.

However, this treatment room takes pampering to the next level, with AI robotic treatments on offer to help members stay in peak physical and mental condition while waiting out above-ground threats.

A state-of-the-art gym, pools, AI-powered Pilates and even a climbing wall will help members relieve boredom and stay in shape.

This level of provision might seem extreme, but not when you consider that Aerie can sustain life indefinitely.

"Most of our bunkers in private estates are also set up to allow the client and their families to survive for upwards of 30 years", Naomi tells us. "But this is also based on client preference. Some of them want to be the next Adam and Eve, while others don't."

Building is already underway for a bowling alley that doubles as an escape tunnel. While the idea of secret escape routes and fortified apartments might seem far-fetched, Aerie was inspired by an experience recently endured by one of their clients. He spent $103 million (£80m) to secure his home, but was left vulnerable when he was caught up in a concert attack.

"Going to a hotel isn't the same as going to a sanctuary that is waiting for you," Al told Realtor.com.

While Aerie might be for the ultra-fortunate to escape the apocalypse, there are end-of-the-world options for the rest of us too. Regular Joes around the world are building their own backyard bunkers, converting Cold War shelters and snapping up refuges in prepper communities. 

After all, as Naomi reminds us, "the future belongs to the bold. It needs to be shaped, not surrendered to." 

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