Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,607
- 910
OZ Architecture has designed hospitals in Rwanda, resorts in China, and buildings of almost every type across the country. But one of the firm’s current projects has taken architects a bit farther afield.
The Denver-based firm has redesigned the master plan for the U.S. Antarctic research base McMurdo Station—the largest outpost (and biggest of three such American facilities) on the world’s southernmost continent. Commissioned in fall 2012 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Leidos (formerly Lockheed Martin), which manages the logistics for the NSF’s Polar Outreach Program, OZ’s scheme will dramatically improve the efficiency, sustainability, and livability of the compound for its 250 to 1,000 inhabitants. (While a skeleton crew lives there year-round, most staff work from October to March, during the Antarctic summer.)
“This is a curious project for us to have,” admits Rick Petersen, a principal with OZ. “We didn’t have any history of working down there.” But the firm did have expertise designing the separate components of the base—office, residential, food service, recreation facilities—and the clients “were looking for a fresh perspective,” says Petersen, who calls the project the “commission of a lifetime.”
Established in 1955, McMurdo comprises more than 100 structures. “A lot of energy was spent moving things from one building to the next,” says Petersen. The efficiency of the new plan comes from consolidating the smaller volumes into six large ones; situating related spaces near each other (for example, food storage will now be adjacent to the kitchen, not in a separate facility); and enclosing connections between the new core buildings, “so you don’t have to stop and take your boots off.”
Colorado Firm Designs New Antarctic Research Base | 2019-01-01 | Architectural Record
This is actually kind of cool.
The Denver-based firm has redesigned the master plan for the U.S. Antarctic research base McMurdo Station—the largest outpost (and biggest of three such American facilities) on the world’s southernmost continent. Commissioned in fall 2012 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Leidos (formerly Lockheed Martin), which manages the logistics for the NSF’s Polar Outreach Program, OZ’s scheme will dramatically improve the efficiency, sustainability, and livability of the compound for its 250 to 1,000 inhabitants. (While a skeleton crew lives there year-round, most staff work from October to March, during the Antarctic summer.)
“This is a curious project for us to have,” admits Rick Petersen, a principal with OZ. “We didn’t have any history of working down there.” But the firm did have expertise designing the separate components of the base—office, residential, food service, recreation facilities—and the clients “were looking for a fresh perspective,” says Petersen, who calls the project the “commission of a lifetime.”
Established in 1955, McMurdo comprises more than 100 structures. “A lot of energy was spent moving things from one building to the next,” says Petersen. The efficiency of the new plan comes from consolidating the smaller volumes into six large ones; situating related spaces near each other (for example, food storage will now be adjacent to the kitchen, not in a separate facility); and enclosing connections between the new core buildings, “so you don’t have to stop and take your boots off.”
Colorado Firm Designs New Antarctic Research Base | 2019-01-01 | Architectural Record
This is actually kind of cool.
