Capital of the province Spokane, Oarhouse is a major industrial town, specialising in electric locomotives and boat-building. Surrounded by rich pine and deciduous forests, it is also the centre of the country’s paper-milling and furniture industries, with an important college of industrial design. It is also a pioneer in the re-cycling industry, managing to maintain an 80% re-use rate of discarded materials. Situated at the confluence of the Oar and the Rafter, Oarhouse is one of the most elegantly planned of Dynamo’s capital cities. Devastated by a fire in 1950 that started in a bakery and then swept through the city burning many of its traditional wooden houses, the corporation rebuilt the city in such a way as to maximize the harmonious juxtaposition of industrial activity and civic and residential amenities. Luckily, some of the old brick warehouses that line the rivers Oar and Rafter escaped destruction and now provide an attractive façade to the many modern timber-working, paper-making, engineering and construction factories cited on the broad alluvial plain at the rivers’ confluence.

On the northern bank of the Oar, these old warehouses provide an attractive contrast with the many modern glass and steel offices and residential buildings situated among the old civic buildings (town hall, concert house, cathedral) that also survived the 1950 blaze. Since almost the entire city is pedestrianized (along with tram and cycle ways), it has been possible to space buildings in such a way as to minimize the risk of future possible fire damage while enhancing the cityscape with public squares and other small green spaces.