Some of the peculiarities concerning the stations architecture may lay buried in it's colourful portfolio of previous owners.
Admiral Pierce was able to trace the stations history of owner ship back through 4 sales but no mention of who originally chartered the Candlekeep stations construction could be found.
The most striking of these architectural choices is the layout of the main hub. Obviously still intended to be the location of administration, sickbay and primary offices, it doesn't have these offices spread throughout the main body in nice, evenly spaced, airtight compartements. Instead all the offices as well as sickbay and storages are stacked on top of each other to one side of the main hub. Leaving a 4 stories tall, wide open space with lots of huge viewports out to space on one side and rows upon rows of smaller windows allowing the administration offices a view of both the main floor and the space viewports opposite them.
On a space station, where any scrap of real estate is precious it's a shocking waste and when he acquired the station, Admiral (retired) Pierce had intended to redesign the area into something more useful and profitable. As well as safer.
This opulence of cubic meters however, became the location for one of Republic space's more sought after tourist attraction: The Candlekeep Station Spice market. In some places ranging as far up as 4 stories this colourful, sprawling, noisy and fragrant market resembles the undergrowth of a particularly verdant jungle more than a place of commerce. Ladders and rickety steps lead up everywhere from the floor of the market where the most bulky merchandise are sold from large, flat tables or is displayed from the big, circular columns erected to hold the upper layers of the market. Looking up from the floor ones eye is assaulted by gangways and brightly coloured drapes framing small, smoky dens with spices displayed in gorgeous piles in front. The cacophony during market hours is deafening and the smells are numerous and range from eye tearing to heavenly.
