Cape Adare’s historic huts – A comparison of the construction methods

The height of Campbell’s hut was its main design flaw and this was recognized by Priestly ‘The great height of the hut was obviously a drawback, for it doubled the resistance to the wind and much increased the amount oftime taken up with its erection’ 1. But it has to be acknowledged that durability beyond the immediate use was not a major consideration for Antarctic parties.The experience of the Norwegians in building adverse weather condition structures has been demonstrated inthe well-constructed and sturdy hut Cape Adare hut. The fact that it has survived to the present day is testimony to the fact. Apart from the problems of ventilation and lighting it was adequately comfortable and combined with the additional space of the stores hut and the use of snow tunnels sufficient room was provided to allow the men to work away from each other reducing the stresses experienced by other expeditions.