The British Antarctic Survey’s Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization Program includes the largest building yet at BAS’ Rothera station—the 50,0000-sq-ft Discovery Building. To deliver it, contractor BAM, design consultants Sweco and assembly and technical consultant Ramboll had to rethink construction using modular and prefabrication techniques to get things to the remote Antarctic during the short summer season, usually two months. Construction began in 2017 and is expected to be completed by 2023 on the $175-million project.
“Our main specialist contractors actually build elements of the design offsite in Cambridge, U.K., to ensure that all of that works. Those assemblies are then tagged so that you can sequence the build so that when you actually get it down to Antarctica you know how long it will take. How do I fit these pieces together? What do they look like?” says Megha Nagendra Wells, technical director, information Management, Sweco.