Halley Research StationADDPMP171
Halley Research Station is a research facility in Antarctica on the Brunt Ice Shelf operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The base was established in 1956 to study the Earth’s atmosphere. Measurements from Halley led to the discovery of the ozone hole in 1985. The current base is the sixth in a line of designs to overcome the challenges of building on a floating ice shelf where they become buried and crushed by snow. Despite moving the buildings 23 km “inland”, concern over the propagation of an ice crack resulted in the base being left unmanned for the winters of 2017, 2018 and 2019.
As with the German Neumayer-Station III, the base floats on an ice shelf in the Weddell Sea rather than being built on solid land of the continent of Antarctica. This ice shelf is slowly moving towards the open ocean and, if not relocated, each base would eventually calve off into a drifting iceberg.
There have been five previous bases at Halley. Various construction methods have been tried, from unprotected wooden huts to buildings within steel tunnels. The first four all became buried by snow accumulation and crushed until they were uninhabitable.The more recent structures have been designed to remain on the snow surface.
A focus of the new architecture was the desire to improve the living conditions of the scientists and staff on the station. Solutions included consulting a colour psychologist to create a special colour palette to offset the more than 100 days of darkness each year, daylight simulation lamp alarm clocks to address biorhythm issues, the use of special wood veneers to imbue the scent of nature and address the lack of green growth, as well as lighting design and space planning to address social interaction needs and issues of living and working in isolation.
Another priority of the structure construction was to have the least environmental impact on the ice as possible.