Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station

Project Highlights

• Commissioned and maintained by the Brazilian Navy, the Comandante Ferraz Antartic Research Station is built to withstand one of the most extreme climates on Earth
• Because of the extreme differentials in interior and exterior temperatures, it was essential to thermally isolate the steel support structure from the steel framing of the building 
• The Isokorb® steel-to-steel thermal breaks that were used will withstand shear force, tensile/traction, and pressure absorption, while dramatically reducing thermal energy loss. 
  
  

New Antarctic station insulated from frigid environment using structural thermal breaks 

KING GEORGE ISLAND, ANTARCTICA — Commissioned and maintained by the Brazilian Navy for the Brazilian Science and Technology Ministry, the €82 million ($100 million USD) Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF) is a scientific research outpost that is located 1,000 km (600 miles) south of the tip of South America. Completed in 2020, the 3,200 sq m (34,000 sq ft) EACF supports technological research in a secure work space, while providing safe and comfortable living conditions. It also minimizes impact on wildlife and the environment.

To determine the most effective design, the Brazilian Navy held an international competition in 2013, won by Estudio 41, a Brazilian architecture firm. According to Estudio 41 lead architect, Emerson Vidigal, “The design takes into consideration the challenges of supporting technological performance in such an extreme climate, while still considering the facility’s aesthetics, offering a comfortable and secure work space. Taking into account the topography of its site, we created a design that minimizes impacts on surrounding wildlife and plant life in the immediate environment, while providing an optimum work and living space.” 

The design divides the station into two core blocks that are organized according to function. The upper block houses living quarters for 64 inhabitants including cabins, dining and service areas. The lower block integrates central work spaces, accommodating 17 laboratories and operation and maintenance zones.  Another lower level houses the central barn and garages. Additional component structures intersect and join the three component areas providing communal space including an auditorium, cybercafé, library, meeting room and video conferencing room.

Three primary factors drove the building’s exterior design: temperature, snow accumulation and wind speed. Clad in concealed-fitting, galvanized and coated sheet steel panels with rigid polyurethane foam insulation, the façade is corrosion-resistant, low-maintenance and highly resistant to wind, driving snow and intense cold. In addition, the EACF is fabricated in elongated, streamlined, prefabricated modular sections — continuously joined and arranged linearly — to mitigate wind force. The steel structure supporting the floors consists of trusses positioned along a grid, modulated with 600 x 1200 cm (19.7 x 39 ft) panels. Latticed, vertical braces support the roofs. Walls are placed at a maximum of 12 m (39 ft) apart. All of these components sit atop a system of steel pillars, which transfer the load of the building onto the ice.

To mitigate what may be the most extreme example of thermal bridging on Earth, the project team deployed 218 Isokorb^® structural thermal breaks between the building’s interior steel framing and its exterior steel support pillars and staircases. 

What thermal bridging is and why it matters  

Thermal bridging typically occurs where structural steel beams or cast concrete penetrate an insulated building envelope. These penetrations conduct heat from interior support structures through the envelope, dissipating it into the exterior environment with three deleterious effects: 1) Energy waste, 2) Cold interior walls and floors reducing occupant comfort and 3) Chilled interior surfaces adjacent to penetrations forming condensation, potentially causing mold growth. Though problematic in any environment, thermal bridging consequences can prove particularly severe in Antarctica due to extreme interior-exterior temperature differentials and the difficulty of remediating such problems in a harsh and isolated location.  

A thermal break that maintains structural integrity

“To ensure that the building remains fully insulated from the outside, it was necessary to use thermal breaks in the connections of the raised structure to the steel columns in contact with the ground,” explains Afaconsult project engineer Rui Furtado.  “We chose Isokorb® structural thermal breaks because they are multidisciplinary elements. First, they are a thermally insulated component, guaranteeing the continuity of the insulation even in the points in contact with the outside, as is the case with most of the column supports of the structure to the ground. It is therefore possible to have the building completely insulated from exterior to interior.

“The thermal breaks connect the steel structure and withstand shear force, tensile/traction, and pressure absorption, while dramatically reducing thermal energy loss. Another advantage corresponds to their modular construction. They work with all steel types and profiles and are constructed from non-rusting stainless steel, offering long-lasting corrosion protection. I also want to acknowledge the technical support given by Schöck, which was essential for this process,” says Furtado. 

Construction in the most difficult location

CEICE, the Chinese construction firm that built the EACF, fabricated, assembled and then disassembled the structure’s components before shipping them to the Antarctic site for re-assembly. Because of the site’s remote location, forbidding environment and short construction window, all technical issues had to be resolved prior to transport. “Not a single piece of structure could board the transporting vessel without being tested and approved,” explains Furtado.

More than just science 

In the BBC article “How Antarctic bases went from wooden huts to sci-fi chic,” Polar Journal editor-in-chief Professor Anne-Marie Brady explains that, “Antarctic stations have become the equivalent of embassies on the ice. They are showcases for a nation’s interest in Antarctica —status symbols.”  For Brazil, that status is a byproduct of the country’s long-standing commitment to leading-edge environmental research for the benefit of all life on Earth, reflected most recently by the EACF’s state-of-the-art design, advanced components and modular fabrication a half-world away from its destination — giving new meaning to “thinking outside the box.”