Learn about polar scientific stations

There are two main units in a polar station: the common room and the power station. At least that's what Justin Sargenti, an architect fascinated by Antarctic polar stations, tells us. After visiting several of them, he wrote a thesis on their spatial organization. According to him, the environment at the French base Dumont-d'Urville is so hostile that the living quarters are vital. When katabatic, dense, cold winds blow, visibility is zero. If someone is outside, Ariadne's safety lines are an essential means to get back to the heart of the station. So they are a little bit like the lifelines skippers use to get around the deck and back to the cockpit.

At higher latitudes at the top of Antarctica, for example at Concordia, the temperature is so low in winter that the generator runs on a wire. If it stops and doesn't restart within 24 hours, the mechanism freezes up completely. If this happens then there is no other solution other than to evacuate the station must be evacuated and a survival camp set up. Power generation is absolutely vital in this environment which is inaccessible to emergency services in winter. And so the chief engineer's room is linked to the power station by alarms, and he keeps a constant vigil, watching over the machine. Alarms and regular checks are also the essential routine of the solo skipper. "The day-to-day running of a station is highly codified, with a precise schedule," notes Justin Sargenti.

The social cohesion is one of the most important elements: you have to be able to get along with everyone, even if this isn't always easy. "The organization of space has to be thought out well ahead of construction," explains the architect. "This makes it possible to separate personal, private spaces from common areas." When someone needs peace or privacy, they can find an appropriate place. Rooms are sometimes shared, otherwise there's a lot of noise around. The living room is sometimes occupied. That's when you have to make a space your own, to mark out a territory of sorts. "If the spaces are too small and ill-adapted, it can create conflicts", he assures us.

At Dumont-d'Urville, a small hut isolated on a headland in the bay is dedicated to video calls with family and loved ones. "It looks like a fisherman's hut," describes Justin Sargenti. "You can also find peace in the landscape." Concordia is divided into two towers: a quiet one and a noisy one. The buildings are also separated to encourage the occupants to move around and make sure they get some fresh air when they can, the expert assures us. 

The use of space is constantly evolving. Every year it changes. In summer, scientists set up their instruments, while another program is completed. "It's a bit like a galaxy, with the common room at the center of the station. Around it, lots of places make up solar systems and planets", explains the architect. The French Polar Institute is currently building a second relief camp at Concordia. In 2022, a new glaciology laboratory arrived at Dumont-d'Urville in a container. People change, plans change. It's a bit like some of the IMOCA boats in the Vendée Globe, which have been fitted with a scientific instrument for measuring the ocean.

Maintaining a presence in this part of the globe is a challenge in itself. Scientists and base personnel have to work out in the gyms when the outside is affected so much by constant bad weather. The skippers are not short of exercise, but rather of rest. Cooking and eating are part of the daily routine. Sailors wear many hats, and can rely on their shore team and good preparation. In the cold, you eat a lot more. In the same way, a polar station must not be short of anything. Skippers have told us that they pack an extra meal when sailing in the southern seas.

"Howling, roaring, surging, the names of the parallels are directly linked to the feelings," Justin Sargenti points out. Even after long months on the ice, they can be felt on the Astrolabe, as the staff gradually return to Hobart in southern Australia. Unless, that is, they fly home from the icy Wilkins airstrip. In which case, the expedition members land directly on an international airport, with its crowds, illuminated signs and escalators.