Design factors peculiar to the Antarctic region : Fire escape doors need to open inwards, because there is a high likelihood that the door may be drifted up with snow on the outside, preventing it from opening. Snow build up and drift patterns are critical — placing a large building in the wrong place or in the wrong orientation to the wind direc- tion, can lead to significant snow management problems. There is daylight round the clock during mid- Austral summer, darkness round the clock during mid-winter. The sun shines in the Northern sky, therefore solar gain is from this direction, unlike in the northern hemisphere. Materials transported to Antarctica through the tropics are exposed to high temperatures and very high relative humidity. Paints and glues are especially affected by this fluctuation. Con - sideration of this in the design process should minimise problems in transit. Buildings of modular design ease shipment to Antarctica. The buildings must be simple to construct in a harsh environment and not require the use of specialist tools or intricate processes. All systems must be suitable for use by personnel wearing polar clothing. The buildings and the mechanical and electri- cal services must be easy to maintain at a low year-on cost, while providing a safe and comfortable living/working environment. It is important that all buildings are sealed. Snow blowing at high wind speeds can literally pass through the eye of a needle. It is not impossible to find a one cubic metre pile of snow inside a door, that has blown in through the key-hole during a blizzard. All BAS structures and facilities are designed to give a minimum life span of 20 years. Summer-only BAS personnel travel to the Ant- arctic in November or December, returning to the UK in March or early April. Construc- tion projects either need to be programmed to complete in one season, or be planned in distinct phases.
The Architecture of British Antarctic Survey Stations D J Taylor
t he British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is a component body of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is responsible for all the scientific research that is carried out in the Ant - arctic on behalf of the British Government. To support the research, BAS maintains five perma - nent research stations in Antarctica and sub-Antarctica. The design of the British stations in the Antarctic is managed by the Building Services Section (BSS), an in-house team of designers, engineers and surveyors. Much of the detailed design work is let to contractors, under design and build contracts, but this is still monitored and co-ordinated by the BSS. The buildings built by and for BAS in Antarctica tend to be aesthetically simple but functional, unlikely to win any architectural design awards, and described in the British press as ‘frankly, ugly’! This is probably fair comment, although they have never been intended to look pretty. The extreme conditions and remote sites demand designs which are fully functional, easy to transport and erect, but strong, and weather-tight. The criteria are very different indeed to those for build- ings in more temperate latitudes.
On Site review 11
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Spring 2004
Architecture of the Circumpolar Region
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