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Master Plan for the South Pole Redevelopment Project3. DESIGN PROCESS: 3.4 Conceptual Building Design: Above Surface Habitat: Based upon an approved bubble diagram concept, the design proceeded to a stage where the buildings could be massed and their shapes articulated. The station’s buildings were conceived to be of modular design capable of being periodically raised to extend their useful life and incrementally jacked to adjust for differential settlement. Their size, alignment, and shape were also predicated by water flume and computer based snowdrift studies conducted by RWDI. These prerequisites combined with the necessity for a phased design and construction approach, resulted in a linear, piano-key-like design plan of two-story buildings connected to a segmented spine. This approach allowed utilities to be distributed along the spine as new modules were constructed and brought into service and disconnected when building sections were raised. It also allowed for modules to be closed down to sub-operating temperatures to save energy during the reduced operations and staffing of the winter season. A simplistic, single-loaded, downwind-corridor approach was first envisioned but later modified to a double-loaded corridor with the three upwind module(3) acting as an airfoil-shaped leading edge to accelerate wind speeds below the building. These upwind buildings, having the greatest access to the corridor plus views of the South Pole monument and arriving planes, would contain public, administrative, and research functions. Downwind buildings would contain the station’s power plants as well as personnel berthing and recreational facilities. One of these building modules would be designed specifically for the needs of the reduced crew of 50 people and contain a separate backup power plant, galley, and emergency service connections. In effect it could operate as a first area of refuge in a wintertime catastrophe. The design team’s intent was to provide a design for a station that would be completely above surface. Its development would be phased in such a way that the existing station’s arch structures would be utilized until their life expectance neared and then dismantled and removed from the site. The station would consist of ten downwind modules connected to the windward spine and would measure approximately 240 meters (800 ft.) in length. This approach was modified after project funding, scheduling, and logistical considerations made life extensions to the existing arches a necessary project requirement. The new approach would utilize below surface station areas for infrastructure and above surface areas for habitable space. Below Surface Infrastructure: It was determined early in the design information gathering phase, that the existing geodesic dome had been structurally damaged by differential snow loading and was prone to future loading problems inherent to its shape and construction. Reconfiguration and reuse were considered impractical and too costly. Its use was therefore removed from the proposed design. The Skylab tower and all interior modular buildings of the main station were also eliminated from the design for reasons that they had reached their useful life and were beyond reasonable repair. The balloon facility was determined to be serviceable for renovation and reuse. The fuel arch was selected for reuse with its fuel storage increased by use of stacked steel tanks. The bio-medical, power, and garage arches would be joined by sections of the cargo arch to form a new cargo and waste management arch. A new arch would be erected parallel and downwind of the cargo arch for a new garage/maintenance shops facility.(4) All buildings within the new below-surface-arch system would be of new construction to meet present life safety codes. A new and smaller-diameter-connector arch together with a vertical tower would act as a utility, supply, and personnel link to the above surface station.
(3) During design development and peer reviews, this was changed to two buildings. Proceed to next section: 3. Design Process: 3.5 Siting the Station Table of Contents Return to Publications
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