Halley VI Antarctic Research Station

Halley VI Research Station is the first fully re-locatable research station in the world. It was commissioned in 2006 and its unique and innovative structure was the result of an international design competition in collaboration with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The station took four years to build and delivered its first scientific data in 2012. Its iconic design houses a cutting-edge science platform and modern, comfortable accommodation.

The British Antarctic Survey’s Halley VI Antarctic Research Station is online just 900 miles from the South Pole. Halley VI is the most southerly research station operated by the British Antarctic Survey and is located 10,000 miles from the UK on the 150-metre thick floating Brunt Ice Shelf, which moves 400 metres per annum towards the sea. Snow levels rise by over 1 metre every year and the sun does not rise above the horizon for 105 days during winter. Temperatures drop to -56C and the site can be buffeted by winds in excess of 100 mph. Materials and components required to construct the new base have to be delivered across fragile sea ice, which can fracture at any time. Access by ship and plane is limited to a 3-month window during the summer.

However, the Halley VI has been uniquely engineered to overcome Antarctica’s inhospitable climate. Based off the award-winning design by Hugh Broughton Architects, the station features modular compartments, hydraulically raised supports, and attachable ski pontoons. The hydraulically elevated ski based modules respond to annually rising snow levels and the need to relocate the base if the site calves off as an iceberg. A special central module provides a dramatic open plan social area at the heart of the station. Unlike other fixed research facilities, Hally VI can be reconfigured as needed, raised or lowered depending on snow conditions, and moved piece by piece when its section of ice drifts too close to the sea.

While being more expensive to built initially, the Halley VI will have a drastically increased lifetime, making it a worthwhile investment in the long run. Read more info on the design work for the units here. View more pictures here.

The central red module contains the communal areas for dining, relaxation etc., while the blue modules provide accommodation, laboratories, offices, generators, an observation platform and many other facilities. Remote scientific equipment, set up for long-term monitoring, is housed in a number of cabooses around the perimeter of the site, which also contains numerous aerials and arrays for studying atmospheric conditions and space weather. The station operates throughout the year with a maximum population of 70 in the summer and an average of 16 over winter. The Emperor penguin colony near Halley, which is present from May to February, is a special attraction, while other recreational trips take members further inland towards the "hinge zone" where the floating ice shelf is joined to the continent. Read more on the station here.