Workshops Sign

Inside the Workshops.

Seems like there's all kind of crazy stuff back there. Maybe… maybe one day I'll get more ambitious.
― Pablo Navarro[src]

The Workshops are where engineers, mechanics, and maintenance workers perform upkeep on the machinery driving Rapture from the Hephaestus district.


Australia Day

Hephaestus was always abuzz with activity, but complex machinery doesn't maintain itself. That's where the army of skilled tradesmen and women came in and the Workshops were where they operated. Whenever a piece of equipment needed to be manufactured or repaired, technicians like Jacob Norris could attend to it at one of the desks workbenches located in the facility.

As the Rapture Civil War broke out, Hephaestus was the site of violence as warring factions fought to control the city's center of power production. Some of the staff chose to hunker down in the Workshops for defense. Others came to the space to plot destruction.


Main article: BioShock

From the entrance at Hephaestus Core, Jack passes through a glass tunnel to the Workshops. The connecting pathway is illuminated by volcanic vents jutting from the sea floor.

Upper FloorEdit

Like other areas in Harmonic Core #3, the Workshops are decorated in a utilitarian, industrial design with exposed piping and sheet metal paneling along the floors and walls. The upper area is a combination locker area and work room. Employees could deposit their belongings here for safekeeping, labor at one of the workbenches, and wash up at the end of the day before heading home.


So much for that.

In the northeast corner, there's an El Ammo Bandito, a Circus of Values, and a Bot Shutdown Panel by the staircase. There's 5 dollars in a locker by the vending machine and another 3 sitting in a bundle on the desk by some propane tanks. Closer by the entrance corridor, a Rosebud took refuge in a small alcove. Using a Crossbow, she set up a simple trap bolt barrier. While it couldn't help her, Jack can at least retrieve the ammo to aid in his fight.


Dangers around every corner.

Further to the right is a larger work area. Benches and a bank of lockers form the perimeter of the space while a washing up sink stands at the center. A turret is set up beside the sink, and behind both is a column of piping that stretches up from the lower floor. While a Spider Splicer skulks around the ceiling, a Leadhead Splicer patrols the floor. There's plenty of loot for them to guard in this room including various weapons and items on the benches or the safe located by the Little Sister Vent containing 6 frag grenades, 12 00 buck, and 6 steel-tipped bolts. A blood trail leads to the center locker; opening it reveals a corpse stuffed inside. A poster commemorating Australia Day serves as the only decoration in the unadorned space.

Lower FloorEdit


The lower area of the Workshops.

Heading down the staircase, Jack passes a Little Sister Vent. As he reaches the bottom floor, he barely has time to duck for cover from the pair of turrets set up in front of the Office of Supervisor Kyburz. The giant set of gears in the center of the room offers some protection while he decides whether to hack or take out the Security Devices, or he could hide in the crawlspace to the left. The small space leads under the stairs where it appears Pablo Navarro tried to take refuge before ultimately taking his life; a tank of electric gel and a pair of storage crates full of invention components are located near his body. Jack could also head in the small office area with a pair of desks set up by a Gene Bank; there's a proximity mine and a hidden vent that leads to the adjoining hall past the turret-protected area. If he should accidentally hit one of the four oxygen tanks packed close together here with a careless round, the whole work space will erupt in a fiery explosion.


Mist and machines.

Further on is another work area with benches and desks; a broken pipe spews steam throughout the room. A shadowy figure can briefly be spotted in this steamy space. An impromptu Chemical Thrower was assembled at a table next to a Health Station and another frag grenade can be found on one of the other desks. In the center of the room lies the corpse of supervisor Keyburz, he died before completing his work. Up a set of steps are a series of shelves where repair records and other files were likely stored, they now hold only an EVE Hypo and Pistol Rounds. Behind this area, Jack encounters an upturned desk and a hidden crawlspace.


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The secret crawlspace.

Hidden in a crawlspace area to the side of Kyburz' office, Jack finds a gene tonic and the incomplete EMP Bomb. In this confined space, Kyburz toiled in secret trying to complete the improvised device in an attempt to get to Ryan and end the war. While he ultimately failed, he left instructions in an audio diary for how to complete it. Jack must find the missing parts, assemble the bomb, and overload the geothermal core to gain access to Rapture Central Control.

Upon exiting, he finds his first component an R-34 Wire Cluster on the corpse of a Bouncer not far from the crawlspace. He also finds a Leadhead Splicer lying in wait for him in the hall.

Office of Supervisor KyburzEdit

Office of Supervisor Kyburz Sign
Kyburz&#039; Office

Inside Kyburz' office.

Jack heads to Kyburz' office looking for components to the EMP Bomb. Upon getting past the heavily guarded turrets, he has the coded door to deal with. Pablo Navarro was in the habit of slipping in and stealing money after coaxing the door code from a drunken Kyburz,[1] but even he likely didn't have to contend with Kyburz' most shocking security measure: a series of trap bolts covering the entire office. What follows is either the most dangerous game of limbo ever, or a clever use of the Telekinesis Plasmid to clear the path.


Seems a bit excessive.

Once the office is safely navigable, Jack can give it a proper looking over. The phonograph plays the Andrews Sisters' "Bei Mir Bist du Schön" and the large windows offer an impressive view of the volcanic fields surrounding Hephaestus, but it's clear this was a space readied for war. In the front, a tank of liquid nitrogen and some pistol rounds are on the secretarial desk by the Pneumo Tube. Further back, a proximity grenade rests by a filing cabinet while a bottle of Lacas Scotch and an audio diary are on Kyburz desk. Jack can utilize a Power to the People machine on one wall while a charge of Nitroglycerin needed to complete the EMP bomb can be found on the opposite. The charge is secured behind a reinforced glass panel, but hitting an Intriguing Switch on Kyburz desk opens it up. Unfortunately, it also summons from a floor panel the final round of security the paranoid Kyburz installed: another turret trained to attack unauthorized visitors.

New DiscoveriesEdit

Single Use EventsEdit

New Plasmids and Tonics (Found)Edit

Audio DiariesEdit

  1. Kyburz - Device Almost Finished - Lower Workshops, on the office desk at the bottom of the stairs.
  2. Andrew Ryan - Great Chain Moves Slowly - Kyburz' Office, on the desk in the back of the room.
  3. Kyburz - The Dream - Lower Workshops, on a corpse in the middle of room.
  4. Kyburz - Assembling the Bomb - Lower Workshops, secret crawlspace.
  5. Pablo Navarro - Market Maintenance Code - Lower Workshops, secret crawlspace.

Golden Film Reels (BioShock: The Collection Only)Edit

  1. In the crawlspace, on the workbench underneath the bomb.


Behind the ScenesEdit

  • The shader and texture files used for the sign for Kyburz's office are Signs_Eng_Shader_OfficeOfWahl and sign_superwahl, indicating that Kyburz was previously named Wahl.


  1. Pablo Navarro's Audio Diary: Kyburz Door Code