Hugh Broughton scores Polar hat-trick

The practice is already working on the Juan Carlos I Spanish Antarctic Base (see AJ 08.05.2008) and the Halley VI Research Station for the British Antarctic
Survey which will be officially inaugurated next February (2013).

The firm is collaborating with AECOM on the latest scheme, which monitors ‘key climate variables’ will be built at the top of the Greenland ice cap, at 72 degrees north, 3,225m above sea level and nearly 400 km from land.

According to the design team the module will house laboratory facilities for atmospheric and snow chemistry research and features an ‘aerodynamic design’ with ‘hydraulic legs to help the module climb above the rising snow levels, highly insulated glass fiber cladding and integrated photovoltaic arrays’.

All materials will have to be rigourously checked ‘to ensure no risk of pollution through off gassing of highly sensitive aerosol experiments’.

The base amy be prefabricated in the USA, before being shipped to Thule in Greenland from where it would be hauled to the site in sections.