British firms appointed to upgrade Australian base in Antarctica

An international project team including Mott MacDonald and Hugh Broughton Architects has been appointed to upgrade an Australian research base in Antarctica. 

The renewal program for Davis Station is part of a wider initiative by the Australian government to modernise its research sites on the remote continent over the next decade.

British firms Mott MacDonald and Hugh Broughton Architects have been appointed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) alongside Bouygues Construction and Stantec for the scheme at Davis Station.

Set to start next year, the work will include construction of a new utility building containing a main powerhouse, trades workshops, engineering offices, stores and associated plant.

The base’s water production systems will also be replaced, outdated infrastructure will be decommissioned and its site-wide services will be overhauled.

The scheme aims to enable the station to continue operating at full capacity while improving staff safety and the efficiency of scientific missions in one of the most extreme environments on the planet.

Davis Station is the southernmost of Australia’s three Antarctic stations, located on a part of the continent which can experience wind speed in excess of 200km.h and winter temperature below -40 degrees C.

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It is also the only Australian station without a natural freshwater source, relying on reverse osmosis and shipped water, which limits supply during winter and the station’s number of residents.

The utility building has been designed with an aerodynamic profile to withstand the region’s wind speed, with the scheme using a kit-of-parts approach to design to enable future buildings on the site to use similar components.

Construction work at the base will be limited to the summer months between October and February, a programme similar to that used by Hugh Broughton Architects, Bam, Ramboll and Sweco at the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Station.

The project is scheduled to start at the end of 2026 and complete in 2032.