Ice Pod Classic

It’s that time of the year again when everyone’s thoughts begin to turn to holidays. But lazing in the Caribbean is a little predictable, exploring the Middle East a tad passé. If you fancy something a bit more out of the norm this year, then how about the Antarctic? Temperatures fall to -55ºC, snow falls for around half the year and gales blow at up to 100 mph.

And if you get in there quickly enough with the holiday forms, you might even get to experience 24-hour darkness throughout your trip, an added bonus that the Antarctic offers for 105 days a year.

Not quite your bag? Then spare a thought for those working on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Holed up in one of the harshest environments on earth, once the relief ship RRS Ernest Shackleton departs in February, the scientists are in complete isolation for 10 months, studying crucial fields such as ozone reduction, atmospheric pollution, rising sea levels and climate change.

Fortunately for the 52 researchers, the accommodation fares a little better than the standard package deal apartment. The Halley VI state-of-the-art scientific research station is an impressive design concept consisting of a series of pod-like modules, all resting on giant skis, which enable easy relocation.

Designed by Faber Maunsell and Hugh Broughton Architects, this is the latest in a series of Halley stations, which have been operating on the Brunt Ice Shelf since 1956. Up to 1.5 metres of snow builds up each year on the shelf, and buildings on the surface become covered and eventually crushed.

For this reason, Halley stations I to IV each had to be abandoned after 10 years’ occupation. To counteract this problem, Halley V had its main units built on steel platforms, which are raised annually to keep them above the accumulating snow.

Halley VI is a further exciting evolution in the history of the station. It has every resource to enable the facility to operate and be fully self-sufficient 12 000 miles from the UK in one of the harshest environments on earth.

The new station, which is scheduled to begin operation in February 2010, is the result of a design competition launched by the Royal Institution of British Architects in 2004. The unique winning entry was selected in July 2005 and envisages a complex made up of seven modules, each weighing 60 tonnes:

• an administration module including offices and the base medical suite;
• two research modules including labs and research work station;
• two sleeping modules with bedrooms, showers and toilets;
• two modules housing generators, heat exchangers, electrical distribution, water and fuel storage, sewage treatment and fire suppression.

These are linked to a larger central module that provides a common area with cooking, dining and recreation facilities, including a TV lounge and even a gym.

A series of CHP units will provide the electrical and heating load. These will be grouped centrally and powered using aviation turbine (Avtur) fuel that remains liquid down to temperatures of -47°C. The decision has been made to install smaller units than those used on Halley V, which will be easier to handle and replace. The reduced size also means supply can be more accurately matched to demand.

The construction team has three 10-week austral summers to get Halley VI into shape.

To help meet the tight deadlines and combat the harsh working environment, the modules are being prefabricated in sections in the UK and Cape Town for shipping to Antarctica on a special ship designed to be able to break through the ice, to a position just off the Brunt Ice Shelf. Here, the main components will be unloaded onto sledges and towed towards the site.

M&E contractor Merit Merrell Technology is installing Metway Electrical Industries’ prefabricated wiring system, designed to supply power to all luminaires and small power outlets.

The wiring system also had to incorporate an additional pair of cables to comply with the specification of using a Luxonic DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) control system for the lighting, an established standard communication protocol with the feature of individually addressing every luminaire.

This was achieved through the use of Metway’s Superflex cable, which houses an additional, screened, twisted pair, encased in the same outer sheathing as the four-core mains-rated flexible cable. When coupled with the company’s range of Tee modules and accessories, the cable provided Merit Merrell with a complete and robust off-site wiring solution.

Steve Chessell, wiring systems general manager for Metway, says: “The system needed to be foolproof and able to withstand the extraordinarily hostile environment. It also had to allow for rapid and easy installation, because work is being carried out to a tight timescale and with no room for error.

“The answer was to use Metway’s industry-standard GST range connector system, which offers colour and mechanical coding that enables all pluggable parts to latch.

“All component parts were despatched fully factory tested as standard, and packed by module and by circuit reference. A later site visit to the frozen wastes of Antarctica would not have been an option we would have relished.”

Over the winter period, scientists have to endure complete darkness for 55 days. The environmental conditions are off the scale for most lamp manufacturers, but the low temperatures mean that some LED fittings can expect to operate up to 30% brighter than usual.

All the external lighting for the main base and outbuildings is LED, although the latest long-life fluorescent lamps have been selected for the general interior lighting as they are currently more energy-efficient and produce a better quality of light.

Artificial lighting has to help occupants retain the best possible state of psychological well-being. The use of high-colour rendering, cool-daylight lamp technology, combined with warmer sources and automated controls help achieve this.

Research has shown that the most crucial time to charge the body with light is first thing in the morning, as this assists in the suppression of melatonin and the production of mood-enhancing seratonin.

For this reason, every bunk is provided with a custom wall-mounted bed head panel with local control, which allows users to receive up to 10 000 lux of ultra-blue 17 000 K light, mimicking daylight as part of the users’ morning wake-up call.

The extra spirit boost seems to pay off. Instead of moping about lamenting the weather, a group of scientists isolated at the BAS’ Rothera station over the Antarctic winter actually formed a rock band. Calling themselves Nunatak, the group ended up playing by video broadcast to two billion people in a protest against climate change, which formed part of last year’s Live Aid concert.