The winners of the competition to design a new base for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have launched a challenge of their own.
The consortium of international engineering firm Faber Maunsell and Hugh Broughton Architects heard they had won the hard-fought contest on Tuesday. Now they want to find a UK supplier of SIPs (structural insulated panels) that can meet a stringent specification at a price they can afford.
Architect Hugh Broughton said: “We would love the SIPs to come from the UK, especially as this is the BAS building, but it will depend on us getting the specification we are after.
“We are looking at SIPs with ply or OSB skins and an insulation layer of 200mm which is fire resistant and meets a U-value of about 0.133.”
The new £19m BAS Halley VI station, which will be home to a crew of scientists, will consist of a long, segmented body made from steel sitting on adjustable legs on skis so it can be moved. It will be clad in SIPs and must be able to cope with temperatures ranging from -5 degrees to -40 degrees Celsius.
