F E R R A R O C H O I A N D A S S O C I A T E S L T D
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Development of a Remote Station Architecture
McMurdo Station,
Antarctica
10. FINAL DESIGN OF THE REPLACEMENT SCIENCE FACILITY
The NSF, having approved the architectural programming study by the CJS Group, contracted PACDIV to advertise for architectural and engineering services to design the replacement science facility. The CJS Group assembled a design team to apply for the project. The consultant firms were:
- Calvin Kim & Associates, civil engineers
- Shigemura Yamamoto & Lau, structural engineers
- Rowan Davies Williams Irwin (RWDI), snow drifting engineers
- Russell Moy, architectural specifications
- Charles Salter & Associates, vibration and acoustical engineers
- Cost Engineering, construction estimators
Syska & Hennessy was chosen based upon the firm’s experience in the design of arctic facilities and aquariums. RWDI were experts in arctic snow drifting research. Both firms had recently completed engineering work for oil company drilling facilities at Alaska’s North Slope. Charles Salter & Associates had experience in vibration control techniques for laboratories, a problem that was anticipated by the architects given the design parameters of a raised building, strong wind loads and sensitive scientific equipment. Consultation was also received from Chase Young, AlA, of Anshen & Allen Architects, San Francisco, who had designed North Slope facilities with Syska & Hennessy.
After a first round of selections by NSF and PACDIV the CJS Group was short listed with four other firms for an interview and presentation of their team’s credentials and qualifications. The CJS Group was selected. Although their previous experience designing Antarctic projects was nonexistent, the experience of their team as well as their thorough knowledge of the project’s programming requirements made the team’s selection possible. The architects began further in-depth research into the design of remote cold region building designs by the Department of Defense in Greenland, the U.S.S.R. in Siberia, the French Polar Program in Antarctica nd New Zealand’s Ministry of Works design for Scott Base. A second trip to McMurdo Station was made by Ferraro and Davis in the austral summer of 1985- 86 for the purpose of collecting weather and snow accumulation data at the site and to collect more detailed data on the physical conditions of the site. While on route and on the ice, meetings were held with New Zealand’s Ministry of Works to discuss building systems design and construction techniques that they were skilled in and comfortable performing in Antarctica. The window of time for delivery of materials and construction was also reviewed and programmed into the design of the building system.
The above discussions were very fruitful in the final design implementation proving that construction in the Antarctic is quite different from the arctic. Due to the remote location, over twice the distance from the U.S. mainland as Alaska’s North Slope, large prefabricated structures had never been preassembled and ocean tugged to the site. The site was also steep and rocky, making offshore unloading and placement of large preassembled components difficult. For these reasons the initial concepts of the design team were modified to a more simplified “stick built” approach. The theory of the contractor was that unique components systems could be damaged in shipping, a factor which could stall construction for a year until the next ship arrived. If the building were designed with standard replicated parts, they could be ordered in extra quantities to replace identical parts that may be damaged. This directed the design to a simple pre-engineered metal building panel system, specifically designed for the temperatures of the site but applied in a non-conventional design approach that accommodated the demands for a raised cocoon-like structure.
The building modules were designed to be enveloped at the roof, walls and bottom soffit with steel clad urethane panels, providing a vapor and thermal insulation barrier for the enclosed interior environment. This skin would be attached to a steel framed building skeleton without continuous steel penetrations which would destroy the thermal break. In turn, the skeleton would be supported by concrete or steel columns with a thermal break at their connection to the building.
Weather data collected from the station’s weather facility, gave a history of wind speeds, wind direction, temperatures and snowfall for the station. For proper design of the building and to preclude snow drift accumulation, RWDI requested that wind speeds and direction be measured at the exact proposed site of the building and then compared with the conditions of the entire station at the same period of time to create a model of historic wind and snow activity at the site. This data, along with a massing model of the proposed building, was taken to RWDI’s laboratory in Guelph, Ontario by Lee Davis. A clay model of the station was constructed along with a model of the building. The model was then placed on a rotating disc in a water flume. Silica sand was then introduced into the flume with the water running at a calibrated speed to simulate wind velocity. The disc was then turned to simulate storm winds that bring snow and prevailing winds that scour snow. Dye was introduced around the building to verify wind changes caused by the building shape. After discovering snow build-up in certain locations on and around the building, the day model was retooled and retested to define a more efficient shape (fig. 16).
The results or the snow testing indicated that the last pod of the building should be moved to the opposite side of the spine; the spine’s roof should be extended to prevent snow accumulation at its end exit stairway; there would be snow build-up in the lee of the second story core pod and the roof of the spine and that the building performed well with a minimum elevation of one meter and a 45 degree canted wall and soffit section.
Applying a structural design to this elevated and encapsulated set of buildings on a stepped site, perched on columns with insulated attachments and able to withstand 130 miles per hour winds was a challenging task. Shipping logistics to the remote location also placed 40 foot limitations on the lengths of structural members. The severe climate precluded an economical application of poured in place concrete construction and the use of other reconventional constructions systems. Vibration isolation was a major concern given the proposed use of sensitive scientific equipment in the building, (figs. 17 & 18).
As an economical design solution, Shigemura, Yamamoto & Lau designed a hybrid framing system that incorporated structural steel, cold formed steel, wood and precast concrete, materials that were frequently used at the site. Precast columns with wood bearing plates were used to provide a thermal break between the inside and outside of the building. Open web steel girders provided a deep floor for mechanical, electrical and communication services. Floors, roofs and end walls were diagonally braced to resist lateral loads. Additional diagonal bracing was added to resist lateral loads. Additional diagonal bracing was added to the concrete columns within the guidelines of the snow study. The connecting spine’s roof and floors were framed as a horizontal truss to transfer the wind loads of the pods. The vibration isolation required by the architectural design was found to be not achievable however, given the high wind design loads and economy of design. As an alternative solution, high strength steel, ASTM A-242 was used with a higher stiffness than normal A36 steel, and equipment isolation was to be provided at each equipment mount.
Mechanical engineering design for the building needed to consider the ambient outside air temperatures and humidity in which the building would operate when designed for the stringent air change requirements of the various laboratories in the facility. Air taken into the facility at -65° F, needed to be first preheated to 40° F by steam coil elements before it could be heated by the oil fired boilers. All exhaust ducts and vents needed to be heat traced with electric heaters to prevent ice buildup when the warm moist air of the building interior, at 70° F, 30 percent humidity, reached the cold, dry ambient air of the exterior.
An oiled fired boiler system was designed based upon the operations and maintenance capabilities of the support staff at the station and the availability of arctic grade oil at government prices delivered to the station each year by tanker. As a safety measure, two separated redundant systems were designed and housed in different pods of the building. The systems were designed with the capacity to heat the entire building separately or in parallel operations. As an additional back-up system, electrical baseboard heaters were designed to independently maintain a temperature of 40° F while powered by a separate diesel emergency generator. Based upon anticipated winter research expanded demands, the building could be operated with some of its pods in full operation and some at a winterized 50° F temperature.
To allow for the reconfiguration of laboratories and special equipment rooms, a heated and lighted interstitial space was designed between the floor of the building and its bottom exterior soffit. The space was designed with access hatches in several appropriate areas of the facility that opened to a catwalk below the floor where technicians could access cable trays, ductwork or mechanical equipment. The space provided an added insulation benefit to the building’s interior while providing increased flexibility for future program needs.
To guard against heat loss at windows, triple glazed steel sash were specified. The two exterior glass panels were a normal thermopane configuration, while the third interior pane was designed to open into the interior. Sandwiched between the operable and fixed glass were mini blinds that operated to shade the horizontal solar component of the Antarctic summer sun.
An automatic dry pipe sprinkler system was designed as the major fire suppression system for the building. The building was zoned in 3,000 square foot areas that could be deluged by the water in a 3,000 gallon hydro pneumatic storage tank on the second floor of the core pod. Since water demand exceeded the supply that could be delivered by the station’s water main, the tank would provide a 15 minute supply of water for one zone when a sprinkler head was tripped. Sprinklers were placed in all habitable and interstitial spaces, below floors and above ceilings, since the building was constructed of a non-protected steel frame with foam insulated steel exterior panels and double layered wood floors.
The building design was completed in 1988 and construction materials were shipped to McMurdo Station in the austral summer of that year, (fig. 19). Due to the size of the building and associated construction and equipment costs, the construction documents were prepared in three phases of construction. The core and biology pods were scheduled as phase 1, the atmospheric and earth sciences pods as phase 2, and the aquarium as phase 3. Work began on the building site in the austral summer of 1988 with the steel erection in summer 1989. NSF fortunately received funding for the entire project so that phasing over several years and under several appropriations was not needed. By the 1990-91 season, the building was enclosed and work began on the interiors through out the winter of that year. In October of 1991, Joe Ferraro visited the site and inspected phase 1 of the building in preparation for its dedication on November 7th. Phases two and three were still under construction at the time of this writing, with their completion projected for November of 1994.
A preliminary evaluation of the snow drift modeling design conducted during the October 1991 inspection revealed that the area below the completed phase one building pods was free of snow. In comparison, adjacent older buildings were drifted to their roofs, indicating that snow scouring was functioning as designed. Areas below phases two and three and the connecting spine were relatively free of snow; however, bottom soffits of the pods were incomplete, thus disrupting smooth air flow between the ground and the buildings and limiting effective snow scouring there.
A new environmental clean-up at McMurdo’s land fill was initiated in the 1991-92 season as a result of legal actions and resulting international legislation. Two of the biology laboratories were pressed into immediate use prior to the official opening of the building to identify samples of contaminated waste. Based on interviews with the users, the modular labs operated effectively after being easily configured to the user’s needs.
Views from the interior to exterior views of the south and the Royal Society Mountains were very good. Views were exceptional from the second floor conference and library areas, as anticipated by the architects. This benefit of the site was so successful that additional windows were added to the design of the second floor as a change order, at the request of the NSF. The area was also reconfigure from the standard library originally planned to a computer based information center connected to all U.S. Antarctic stations and the U.S. mainland. This informational nerve center at the top of the building’s spine was termed the “brain” of the science center by the Director of NSFs’ polar programs, Dr. Peter Wilkniss.
If completed on schedule, the project’s development from the first programming study to the operation of the salt water aquarium in phase 3, will require nine years. In that time the USARP has changed the direction of science investigations in Antarctica, primarily due to the discovery of ozone depletion above the South Pole. Astrophysics and upper atmospheric science have been given more support priority than in the past. Introduction of the GrandRudman-Hollings Act has mandated a “streamlining” in the program budget whereby a ten percent reduction must be made in support staff. This occurs at a time when badly needed repairs and renovations must be made to McMurdo’s other building facilities as well as the facilities at South Pole and Palmer Stations. New environmental laws require a massive cleanup and protection of the Antarctic environment by all Antarctic Treaty nations.
These challenges, though not specifically known at the time of the initial design of the building, can be met by the building’s inherent design flexibility to support science. New areas such as the computer information center are easily added to an existing pod. Now that the building has been renamed The Science and Engineering Center and new needs exist for its use, a new pod can also be added to serve Antarctic engineering applications or environmental technologies. In its initial debut, the building has been successful in addressing the users’ needs and the demands of the environment in which it was designed to operate.
As construction nears final completion, further field investigations will continue to test the building design’s effectiveness and success as a new building standard and architecture for McMurdo Station.
Proceed to next section: 11. Bibliography
Table of Contents
1. Abstract
2.
Preface
3. Location
4. Historic Background
5. The International Geophysical Year
6. The United States Antarctic Research Program
7. The Engineering Manual for McMurdo Station
8. The Holmes & Narver Ten Year Master Plan
9. The Replacement Science Facility
10. Final Design of the Replacement Science Facility
11. Bibliography
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