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Master Plan for the South Pole Redevelopment Project3. DESIGN PROCESS: 3.2 Review and Consideration of Previous Concepts: In June of 1991, prior to Ferraro Choi’s involvement, a design concept had emerged from an engineering retreat at Enfield, New Hampshire attended by PACDIV, NSF, The Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research Laboratory (CRREL), and M&E. The design was based upon the NSF directive to maintain the geodesic dome as the central design element of the new station since it had for many years been perceived as the icon of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. One of the first tasks for the design team, was to review and validate this concept given the design parameters and programming requirements for the new station. After applying the functional and area requirements to the dome’s interior volume, it was determined that great planning inefficiencies resulted from its hemispherical shape. The dome had suffered structural failure at its base ring several seasons before from differential snow loading. Although it had been repaired, it was questionable whether it could be dismantled, raised, and reconstructed again at the site. Furthermore, because the dome provided the protective cover for the present station’s habitat, it couldn’t be phased into the construction phases of the new station without significantly disrupting ongoing operations. For these reasons, the design team recommended that the dome be removed from the station design and a new above-surface building design be pursued. Proceed to next section: 3. Design Process: 3.3 Functional Analysis Table of Contents Return to Publications
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