While countries around the world continue to grapple with the current pandemic, there’s one secretive community nestled in the wilds of the American Midwest that were planning for global disaster long before coronavirus struck. The size of a small city, we delve inside this sprawling doomsday refuge, designed to shelter thousands should the worst occur…

Hidden away from the world in South Dakota's remote Black Hills, Vivos xPoint is the self-proclaimed largest survival community in the world. From the sky, the site looks like little more than a vast expanse of undulating land. In reality, however, each small hill is home to an underground bunker, stretching as far as the eye can see.

The compound's history dates back to 1942, just after the United States entered the Second World War. Fort Igloo was established as the US Army's Black Hills Ordnance Depot, named after the hundreds of reinforced concrete domes built to store weapons and ammunition. Once bustling with workers and their families, the military base was eventually closed in 1967 and the site abandoned.

Around 2016, real estate mogul Robert Vicino bought up the land from a local cattle rancher, having founded Vivos, a global underground network of apocalypse shelters, back in 2008. With its expanse of blast-proof concrete bunkers, the vast compound was the perfect fit for his plans to create a sprawling survivalist community.

Ideally located, Vivos xPoint is situated in one of the safest areas in North America, at least 100 miles away from the nearest known military nuclear targets. Perched at an altitude of 3,800 feet, the site is at a distance from any large bodies of water and enjoys relatively mild weather, minimising the likelihood of freak weather events.

Almost the size of Manhattan, Vivos xPoint encompasses 18 square miles of secure land, with 575 bunkers arranged along 100 miles of private roads. Built like a fortress, the fenced compound has just one road in and out, allowing the 24-7 onsite security team, comprising military-trained guards, to identify anyone approaching the property from up to three miles away.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Vivos says demand for its bunkers has grown exponentially, with inquiries and applications up over 1,000% year on year, while annual sales have increased by 400%. The company refers to its underground hideouts as a "backup plan for mankind", an insurance policy of sorts should a global catastrophe strike.

However, securing your own bunker in Vivos xPoint isn't quite as simple as purchasing a unit. Prospective applicants have to first apply for membership, detailing skills and areas of expertise that may come in handy should the end of the world roll around. After careful vetting, the best candidates are then selected from the membership pool and invited to join the community.

If your application is successful, you'll be able to purchase one of the compound's private concrete shelters. Built by the army to withstand a 500,000-pound internal blast, these tough hideouts are as resilient as they come. The semi-subterranean structures feature a large bulkhead wall and a steel blast door that seals to prevent water, air or gas from entering, while thick berms of earth covering the domed roof add extra protection.

With an array of relatively affordable bunkers available, you can purchase a unit for an upfront payment of £28,000 ($35k), or £14,000 ($17.5k) for a structure that requires repairs, plus an ongoing annual ground rent of £810 ($1k) per shelter. The units are sold as shells without furnishings or equipment. Full outfitting is available for an extra cost, which the company says can be as much as £60,000 ($75k), depending on the finish. However, Vivos' show bunker offers a glimpse of what can be achieved…

Encompassing around 2,200 square feet of floor space, Vivos says each bunker has the capacity to accommodate 10 to 24 people along with their supplies for a year or more, without the need to venture outside. And what's more, you'll be far from slumming it. This outfitted model offers a spacious, open floor plan with wood-effect floors and zoned living areas.

Distinctive spaces for cooking, dining and relaxing create a functional, family-friendly layout, while living areas and storage can be extended even further with the addition of an attic level. This design, featured on the Vivos website, has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, but ultimately, buyers get free rein to design a hideout home that works for them.

While it may not be quite on the same level as these billionaire bunkers, the compact kitchen has everything you need to cook up a storm, from a full-sized fridge and oven to a snug breakfast bar. Rather than merely catering to the super-rich like some survival shelter companies, Vivos says its members are "well-educated, average people with a keen awareness of the current global events". 

Running completely off the grid, the bunkers are designed to be hooked up to solar arrays and wind turbines, generating their own power source that won't be affected if a national blackout occurs. Water is drawn from two underground wells and stored in reinforced concrete water tanks, while a water distribution system services each individual bunker.

As well as cosy sitting areas and no shortage of space to socialise, the bunkers also have a series of measures in place to limit the spread of harmful germs or gases. Vivos explains: "All of our shelters have air scrubbers to eliminate all pathogens and radioactive particles before entering the underground space".

A stark contrast to the fallout shelters constructed in basements and backyards during the Cold War, where a whole family would often hole up in a single fortified room, Vivos xPoint's underground hideouts can accommodate plenty of private bedrooms. There's enough floor space for a generous master like this, plus the usual wardrobes and furnishings you'd expect at home.

You can even add bunk rooms to your shelter's design, perfect for younger members of the family – there'd be no arguing over sleeping arrangements here. According to the company, the shelters can withstand everything from a surface blast wave to radioactive fallout so the compound's residents can sleep easy at night.

In the event of global disaster, locking down doesn't have to mean sacrificing life's little luxuries. The Vivos show bunker features a full-sized bathroom, complete with a bath and overhead shower, so there's no need to go without a long, indulgent soak in the tub.

For survivalists with a taste for the finer things in life, the sky's the limit when it comes to customisation. Pictured here, Vivos' deluxe floor plan offers an idea of the luxe bunker setup you could create – if you can foot the bill that is. The perfect billionaire bolthole, this extravagant design even comes with a home cinema.

This interior render reveals a whole host of indulgent extras, from a pool table and bar to LED windows that simulate scenic views of the outside world. We wouldn't mind being locked down here if the end of the world rolled around!

The master bedroom is equally as extravagant, with polished wood floors, dramatic feature walls and atmospheric spotlights – more akin to a luxury suite in an upmarket hotel than a doomsday shelter. While pricing isn't available for this deluxe design, we have a feeling it might include more than a few zeros...

As the current pandemic continues to ripple across the globe, Vivos has seen some of its members bed down in their bunkers already, while many more make snap investments in apocalypse-proof hideouts in the face of what the company calls "extinction-level events". They see their underground communities as humanity's last chance and even have plans to add amenities including a hot tub spa and a theatre for members to enjoy when it's safe to resurface.