40 years on: ingenious Tassie-made igloos are found all around the world
, 2022-12-06 16:33:31,
December 7, 2022
The first igloo in Antarctica, assembled on 7 December, 1982.
Image credit: AAD
On this day 40 years ago, the first Tasmanian-made Igloo Satellite Cabin was flown onto Antarctica’s Magnetic Island.
Purchased by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), this igloo became the first of 63 acquired by the AAD in the years to come, used in Antarctica as communication centres, mess huts, laboratories, bedrooms, non-magnetic instrument rooms and bathrooms.
It all began with a phone call made by an AAD field equipment officer to Tasmanian-based fibreglasser, Malcolm Wallhead. Asking for a quote to repair a caravan they intended to use at the Magnetic Island penguin research site, Malcolm instead suggested they use one of his dome-shaped igloos.
Malcolm had designed these in the 70s and at the time was manufacturing and selling them as remote cabins.
He explained their more aerodynamic design would allow a fully-assembled igloo to be flown onto site by helicopter.
“The AAD said ‘yes, okay’, so we frantically got to work,” recalls Malcolm’s wife and business partner, Anthea Wallhead.
As well as becoming the structure of choice for the AAD, orders soon started flooding in from across the world.
“They became known mostly by word of mouth because…
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