Antarctic researchers spend months in total darkness and brave -55°C temperatures and winds in excess of 100 mph. Yet these hardy souls endure and thrive at the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station, a $42-million habitat constructed in one of the most hostile environments on Earth.
The sixth station to be built, since it began research in 1956, by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Halley VI confronts the harsh conditions through an innovative design, the use of building components borrowed from other industries, and meticulous planning and prefabrication. Still, from conception to completion, the project took nearly a decade, due to an extremely short building season and limited accessibility.