I've finally decided to hop on here and ask as my search across the net yields no informational guide for what I'm looking for (unless I want to spend forever scrolling through links and links to piece mail what I need together)

What are the different Imperial structures in the 40k universe and what purposes do they serve?

I vaguely know what a Manufactorum is, but not really.

Basically, I just want people to throw in their two cents on any building types they know of.

This has been one of the greater details of 40k to elude and confuse the ever loving hell out of me forever.

Asministratum- well, administration or a building in which it is located.

Manufactorum- factory without full automatisation.

Generatorum- power plant.

There are also temples or cathedrals of God-Emperor.

On hive worlds people live in hives- giant multi-level cities.

On most of the worlds people live in 3-4 storey houses or in living hubs.

On agricultural world citizens live in cottages or small houses.

Go nuts with pseudo-latin and dark masonry taken to the next level. There is no full consistency in-between all the official sources, and you are free to make stuff up just as the professional writers do all the time. Plus, local architecture would be different from planet to planet, anyways, depending on cultural influences.

That being said, here's a few ideas off the top of my head:

Officio Administratum: If the scene takes place on a capital of an important planet, it might house a delegation of the Adeptus Administratum, an army of hunchbacked clerks poring over books and calculations in order to calculate, check, and re-check the world's next due tithe. A contingent of adepts man public counters where local merchants may exchange scrip from Imperial troops for local currency, forming queues that grow to hundreds of meters in length. Shotgun-armed Arbites Enforcers keep the peace, breaking up the crowd once the counters close and the massive slab of reinforced steel rolls down.

Fortress-Precinct: Most Imperial worlds have a presence of Adeptus Arbites, the guardians of Imperial Law. Having no time for small-time matters such as theft or murder amongst the locals, the brutal Arbites exist solely to keep the Pax Imperia and ensure that Imperial rule is enforced. The Fortress-Precinct reflects this purpose by essentially being a fortified bunker and a symbol of Imperial oppression, featuring a garage for armoured vehicles, and sporting heavy bolter emplacements on each of its plain sides. The Imperial Aquila sits atop the building as a reminder of what the men and women of the Adeptus Arbites have dedicated their lifes to.

Garrison: Each world in the Imperium is required to raise an army of sorts to defend itself against attackers. Whilst on the backwards Feral or Feudal Worlds this is often no more than a few clans of tribal warriors, who fight amongst each other as readily as they would band together to repel an alien invader, most modern worlds maintain a standing Defence Force under command of the local nobility. These professional armies would be housed in large barracks, protected by servitor-controlled gun emplacements and barbed, often as much against off-world attackers as against local uprising. Some strategically important or recently conquered planets may also house a garrison of the Imperial Guard instead, and in a few rare cases even a small Chapter Keep of a fleet-based Space Marine Chapter that serves as a source of new recruits.

Generatorum: A large power plant, usually cordoned off and protected by armed guards. Might be fission powered. Ancient technology, badly understood and even worse maintained. Expect rusted panels, smoke-filled gangways, radiation leaks and toxic slag. Depending on the quality of safety measures and the state of the facility, the area surrounding the plant may or may not feature an increased presence of mutated flora and fauna, from hideously malformed plant-life to dog-sized rats or entire colonies of barely tolerated mutants.

Governor's Palace: Each Imperial world has an appointed Imperial Commander, also called Governor, who forms the pinnacle of local nobility and usually holds court in the planet's capital, surrounded by a plethora of advisers and minor civilian and military officials. No two palaces are exactly alike, as the nobility can and usually does afford to customise their homes to their preferred style. Needless to say, planetary history/culture and/or the governor's own origin may play a huge role in the design, but rich ornamentation featuring various majestic animals and exotic/expensive building materials is to be expected.

Hab-block: Living room for the unwashed masses. Massive, unadorned bunkers of dark, industrially manufactured rockcrete slabs. Dozens of floors, with dozens of corridors, each one leading to a hundred tiny quarters with bunk beds and a single lamp powered by rationed electricity, its light flickering faintly. This is where the workers catch a few hours of sleep in-between their 18-hour-shifts. And if they're lucky, they are living in an area not controlled by some murderous gang trying to extort whatever passes for currency from the inhabitants.

Manufactorum: Vast halls filled with arcane machinery, assembly belts and work benches, where lay workers of all genders and ages labour under the stern gaze of uncaring overseers, replicating goods, often wargear for the Imperium's many armies, according to ancient patterns that have already been tampered with a thousand times to accommodate for the lack of parts that have ceased production millennia ago.

Rail Terminal: Population centres are hugely dependent on public transportation, even moreso in a setting where privately owned vehicles are (1) very expensive for the average citizen, (2) might be regarded as a security risk by the government and (3) might not be an option due to lack of space. Rail-based transport - be it maglev, standard wheeled or monorail - would be able to connect the most important stations and provide an easy way to reach other districts, other cities, or even other continents. Depending on local conditions, the terminals might either be suspiciously empty or filled to the brim with millions of commuters. In all cases, however, they are likely to be large buildings, likely elevated from the ground and featuring impressive glass murals to raise public morale. Loudspeakers serve to entertain the masses with uplifting hymns, passages of holy scripture, or the occasional warning to keep a watchful eye on their neighbours for signs of heresy and mutation.

Schola Progenium: Some few planets may feature a Schola, a large facility designed to hold and indoctrinate thousands of orphaned sons and daughters of Imperial officers, putting them through a brutal physical and psychological training regimen to turn them into intensely faithful, loyal subjects of the Emperor, who will eventually go on to find employment in all vocations of Imperial service, from desk jobs in the Administratum to lay-service in the Ministorum all the way to the Storm Trooper regiment or the Inquisition. Schola habitats are strictly segregated from public life, intent on isolating their charges from all manner of corrupting influence in order to preserve spiritual purity. They are bound to feature many large buildings to accomodate the various courses the young children may be put through.

Shrine: With the exception of the Cult Mechanicus' Forge Worlds and the Space Marine fiefs, every Imperial world will have shrines, temples and cathedrals dedicated to the worship of the God-Emperor and the Imperial Creed, attended to by officially sanctioned clergy of the Ecclesiarchy and guarded by a rag-tag band of fanatical lay-servants called Frateris Militia. These temples to the Emperor can be of any size, but the more populated an area, the more likely it is that the Adeptus Ministorum will use its tithed riches to spread the glory of Him-on-Earth by erecting grand edifices and statues so as to inspire faith and awe in the teeming masses, preparing their congregation for the fiery sermons of passionate clerics whipping the locals into a frenzy for the next mutant pogrom.

Space Port: Either wide, open fields of gray, surrounded by huge walls designed to keep unauthorised locals at bay, and themselves surrounding a fortified terminal. Massive landers sit on these landing fields, loading and offloading goods or passengers, often including masses of impoverished pilgrims who have given all in their desire to travel to some faraway holy site. Some space ports may also be constructed as massive towers piercing the sky, with ships docking on its sides.

... and amidst all this, you will find countless small carts of merchants offering all manner of goods, from handcrafted baskets and puppets to narcotics to religious trinkets (at times even finger bones of famous saints ... according to the merchant), to "freshly" prepared food such as hot dog .

This is just a few ideas, mind you. In essence, think what you may find in a city today, and then grimdark it.

[edit] ninja'd!

Though I should probably add that most of the above is meant for an urban environment, rather than Agri-Worlds or Feral Worlds... as far as such planet types are concerned, it should be obvious what would be found there, though.

When in doubt, you can describe almost any Imperial building as looking '-like a Gothic cathedral'.

Learning the different names of religious buildings and associated land and what they were used for can be useful.

e.g

Temple

Church

Priory

Abbey

Cathedral

Basillica

Chapel

Shrine

Rectory

Monastry

Convent

Glebe

Parish

etc etc

There are three basic rules for 40K buildings

1) If you give it a religious spin you are automatically on the right lines. I always call small Ad Mech workshops tech-and then insert a religious building for example Tech-Chapel Tech-Shrine etc etc

2) If you give it a pig latin name you get bonus points

3) Anything goes, especially if you make it at least 5 times larger than is necessary.

All of the above but I would add that GW tends to create double-names so to speak, often with a defensive or religious background.

Its not a precinct but a fortress-precinct, not a just a data workstation but rather a data-tabernacle. Not just an engine control interface but rather an engine-shrine....

Also, when it comes to buildings, the Imperium tends to build them for a double function; both a defensive structure and a functional structure, all coated with a religious sauce. So instead of a governor's palace, its a fortress-palace. Instead of an administratum building its an administratum-bastion etc.

Another option is giving buildings unique names; the halls of judgement, the citadel of martyrs, the hall of victory, Remember Istvaan building, eternity hall, infinity fort, Drusus chambers, etc...