The new order for 14 extended Igloos, currently being made for AAD, will be distinct from their earlier igloos. Instead of Mail Red, with White inside, the new Igloos are International Orange, with Whisper Rose interiors.
A range of colours have been requested by purchasers over the years, from black, white, beige, yellow, orange, red, as well as various blues and greens. No purples yet!
The new Igloo purchased by France last year was chosen because its fibreglass panels can be cleaned inside and out, before and after being in Sub-Antarctic conditions. Cleaning reduces the introduction of potentially damaging ‘pests’ into protected environments. Other temporary accommodation, such as wooden cabins, is more difficult to clean.
December 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Igloo Satellite Cabins being assembled on Australian Antarctic Territory. On December 7, 1982, the station leaders log at Davis Station records: ‘went to Magnetic Island and erected a new spherical hut on the previously set up platform. They christened it ‘apple hut’. On December 8, there is a further entry saying: …all went to Magnetic Island by
skidoos. The hut was finished…’
This first Igloo was the prototype for all Igloos manufactured for the AAD, and is still in use as a storage unit today.
[Thanks to Jan Adolph, AAD, for copies of the log entries and photo.]
Brand new Igloo Satellite Cabins are currently under construction for the Australian Antarctic Division. These units will be replacing older Igloos purchased 20-30 years ago. New Igloos will be shipped to Antarctica and then flown to several remote locations in Australian Antarctic Territory over the next two years. The older units will be dissembled and brought back to Tasmania.
Attention Igloo purchasers: A new set of moulds has been used to produce the panels of these Igloos, and they are not compatible with earlier Igloos.
Greenpeace’s Igloo was painted white for a protest at Apple’s Inc’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. Source
Igloo Satellite Cabins have been given several nicknames by expeditioners over the years. The basic, round Igloo is often called an Apple or Apple hut. This is because Igloos are exported from Tasmania, which was known as the Apple Isle for its exports of real apples.
German expeditioners call the round Igloos ‘Tomatoes’.
Igloos, with 2 or 3 sets of extension panels, are called ‘Melons’. Units with 4 sets of extensions are called ‘Zucchinis’, even if they are more often red than green.