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 research facility is segmented into eight modules, each sitting atop ski-fitted, hydraulic legs that can be individually raised to overcome snow accumulation, allowing the module to be towed independently to a new location.
Halley VI is designed by London-based Hugh Broughton Architects and AECOM, a global engineering design firm. The new book tells the story of this exciting piece of architecture in an essay by Ruth Slavid. Around 100 photographs, mostly in colour, plans and diagrams document the various modules of the re-locatable station and its present site. Captions offering comprehensive technical information about the structure complement the images. Photographs are contributed by British photographer James Morris, who has gained much international recognition for his work in architectural and landscape photography.
About the Author
Ruth Slavid is an architectural writer based in London.
Industry Reviews
"The British Antarctic Survey launched a research station now setting a new standard for architecture in extreme environments: Halley VI. . . . Ice Station chronicles the design and construction of the science outpost. . . . Morris's photographs, diagrams, and sketches give a full view of all the modular station's components, from cockpit roof lights where residents can view the auroral lights in the winter, to the social module with its bar lounge (likely an equally essential winter feature)."-- "Hyperallergic" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
"Ice Station chronicles the creation of Halley VI, the sixth British research station built on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica since 1956.... To capture the site, photographer James Morris spent hours outside in temperatures that sometimes dropped to -25 degrees. 'Going to the point where you are alone in the middle of absolutely nothing was quite exciting, in a terrifying kind of way, ' he says." --Alexandra Wolfe "Wall Street Journal"
"Ice Station offers an inside glimpse at a place few will ever see."-- "Discover" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
"Antarctica is on Earth, but it feels alien--a vast, cold, rapidly melting desert populated by scientists and emperor penguins. So it makes sense that today's Antarctic research stations look a lot like spaceships: They're often the only things protecting their inhabitants from inhospitable places people really shouldn't be living in. Only recently, though, they've become works of fine art, and Ice Station helps drive that point home."-- "Wired" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
"Halley VI is the first movable research station, built out of eight independent but linked modules containing dormitories, generators and labs. . . . Few people will ever visit, so Ice Station tells its story."-- "New Scientist" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
"In one of the most inhospitable places on earth, the British have built not just a shelter, but a piece of architecture."
-- "Architects' Journal" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
"When your first five research stations get pummeled by the harsh polar environment, build one you can move. . . . Halley VI sits above the snow cover to avoid getting buried, but this version can also move toward the mainland as the shelf sloughs towards the sea. . . . The making of Halley VI is documented in Ice Station, . . . with photographs by James Morris."-- "Air & Space, Smithsonian" (1/15/2016 12:00:00 AM)
