691 – Maitri II

• Architecture
• Landscaping
• Structural engineering
• Fire safety (with SECO)
• Building services engineering
• Building physics (with Daidalos)
• Cost estimate (with BESIX)

The complex consists of a vast compact volume (VCV) housing all the daily functions, complemented by two industrial hangars housing, near a helipad, the helicopter garage, the stock of products for non-daily use and a refuge area.

As well as responding to the imperative need for functionality, it offers convivial living spaces, pleasant places to meet and relax. It is also exemplary in environmental terms, ensuring a limited impact in all areas: limited footprint, energy expenditure, use of solar and wind energy, widespread use of wood and steel as building materials, absence of impure liquid discharges, etc.

A study of the site identified a circular area around 170 m in diameter, virtually flat with a gentle slope (2 %), which would allow the VCV to be set up there, limiting to a strict minimum the developed length of new tracks (roads) and cable trays or pipes running above ground.

The VCV, based on an 8.1 m square structural grid, consists of a two-storey base topped by a living floor.

The base, 64.8 m square from axis to axis, floats 1 to 2 m above the rocky ground and contains all the technical rooms (workshop, garages for snow groomers («PistenBullies»), storage rooms for daily products, minimum stock of fuel oil, emergency groups).

The living floor, 81 m square from axis to axis, groups the rooms (offices, laboratories, restaurant-kitchen, bedrooms, sanitary facilities, fitness room, infirmary, etc.) around a central square where people can meet and socialise. These volumes are covered by sports fields and market gardening areas.

The whole complex is covered by a spherical cap 105 m in diameter, topped by a square platform with 16.2 m sides for the scientific measuring equipment.

The structure of the floors and walls is made up of prefabricated modular wood panels with multiple layers, including insulation, combined with a primary steel structure. This allows great freedom of dimension for the premises. What’s more, all the building’s components can be transported in much more compact sub-assemblies than is possible with the modular container construction common in Antarctica.

Both the spherical roof cap and the vertical outer envelope include a moderate number of glazed surfaces that can be blacked out to provide as much natural light as possible to all the spaces.

The large volume under the hemispherical dome functions like an outdoor urban space, such as can be found under the skies of all temperate regions of the globe. The temperature is variable but moderate, between 4°C during the austral winter and 11°C during the austral summer, and the intensity of the artificial lighting follows a circadian rhythm. This vast volume and these variations in temperature and light, close to the experience offered by a natural outdoor space, are clearly more beneficial for the physical and mental health of the occupants, unlike the confined spaces with constant temperature and lighting that are common practice in Antarctica.

There are many advantages to arranging all day-to-day functions in a main volume:
– the ratio of the surface area of the envelope to the enclosed volume is smaller than that of existing polar stations, which are made up of scattered buildings, which reduces both the footprint and energy losses;
– the distances to be travelled between premises are limited;
– the length of all the technical networks is limited;
– the need for redundant equipment is reduced;
– conversion or extension of wood-panelled interiors can be carried out in a weatherproof environment;
– cleaning and maintenance costs are limited.

The VCV is surrounded by a circular ring with an external diameter of 170.1 m, housing 1,800 m² of photovoltaic panels on its northern section, as well as 8 to 10 Darrieus-Rotor H wind turbines, each with an output of 70 kW. This «Energy ring» will supply all the energy required to operate the building.

Invited competition.
In partnership with R.dx Architects (Chennai, India) and Extreme Planet RXD (Chamonix, France).