The £100-million facility was commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK's polar science organisation, and is the largest UK construction project delivered on the Antarctic continent. The Discovery Building will provide operational spaces, field preparation facilities, offices and recreational spaces to support long-term research into climate change, ocean systems and Antarctic biodiversity.

"Operating in the extreme demands of the polar environment places exceptional requirements on building performance, logistics and reliability. Sweco's role has been to ensure that the Discovery Building meets those requirements through robust, coordinated and technically precise design. The project has involved several hundred Sweco specialists from the UK and Europe from 2018 to today, and we are proud to have contributed our expertise to a facility that will support scientists and society alike," says Max Joy, Business Area President for Sweco UK. 

Sweco has been involved in the project since its inception, providing multi-disciplinary design, sustainability strategy and technical consulting as part of the AIMP partnership, which has included BAS, BAM, Ramboll, Sweco, G&A Barnie Group Ltd, Turner & Townsend and Hugh Broughton Architects.

Sweco was responsible for the technical design of the structural, civil, mechanical and electrical building services for the new science support and operations building, and working with Hugh Broughton Architects, Sweco supported delivery of the architectural design, adding expertise within building systems, digital infrastructure, acoustics and sustainability standards.
 

About AIMP
The Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme (AIMP) is a long-term UK government funded investment in the Polar Regions that will enable the UK to continue to lead climate, biodiversity and ocean research in the southernmost continent of the globe. Read more here 
 

Press photos

• The Discovery Building from outside in sunrise, free use, please credit photographer: Eliot Perez
• Max Joy, President of Sweco UK, free use, please credit photographer: Måns Berg
• The building's operations tower, free use, please credit photographer: Ciara MacDonald, BAS 
• The Discovery Building with mountains in background, free use, please credit photograhper: Matt Hughes, BAS
• The Discovery Building from above, free use, please credit photographer: BAS

Facts & figures

• The Discovery Building is a two-storey facility of approximately 4,500 m², extending nearly 90 metres in length.
• It consolidates around 60 field preparation, operational, office and welfare rooms, replacing several older buildings at the station.
• Rothera typically supports around 160 personnel in summer and between 25-30 in winter, making the building a central hub for daily life and research activity.
• By consolidating multiple legacy buildings into one high-performance structure and integrating modern energy systems, the Discovery Building is expected to reduce Rothera Research Station's overall carbon emissions by approximately 25 per cent, through improved insulation, combined heat and power systems, and more efficient operations.