How do you survive extreme isolation?

How would you design for life in the world’s most isolated place?

Covid transported the world into isolation from friends and family, however there was one continent where this is an annual experience. Antarctica.

In the depths of winter, scientific research stations completely cut off from the rest of the world and remain physically isolated for anything up to 9 months. In recent years, a series of new stations have been constructed on the ice – using innovative design to help residents overcome the effects of darkness, sensory deprivation and social isolation.

Hugh Broughton has been designing buildings on the frozen continent since 2005 when his firm won the RIBA Competition to design the relocatable British research station, Halley VI. This multi-award winning project led to further commissions including the Spanish Antarctic Base, Juan Carlos 1, as well as ongoing projects to design a science and operations building for the British Antarctic Survey at Rothera Research Station; the redevelopment of Scott Base for Antarctica New Zealand; and an Atmospheric Watch Observatory for the USA on the summit of the Greenland Ice Cap.

Within this digital talk, Hugh discusses the coping mechanisms & devices used for isolation survival with some valuable lessons from Antarctica.