Googie huts are a unique form of accommodation used by the AAD, and well recommended by those who have lived in them.

Red round hut set on the grassy slope of the island with expeditioners standing outside.
Googie hut on Macquarie Island (Photo: M Woolridge

Googie huts have been used by the AAD from the mid-1980s to the present. Googies are currently in use at Waterfall Bay and Brothers Point on Macquarie Island, on Hop island near Davis and on Béchervaise Island near Mawson.

They are constructed from upper and lower fibreglass hemispheres mounted on a steel ring. Multiple oval window panels provide light. Access is via a single vertical-opening door.

Features

  • Googies have a relatively spacious interior, with adequate room for sleeping and work areas for several people. They are larger than Apple huts.
  • They are well ventilated and have a seemingly natural air circulation.
  • External precipitation is captured and stored in the base beneath the floor.
  • Googies maintain heat well due to interior insulation and a high thermal mass of the stored water.
  • They allow reduced drifting effects due to their elevation above surrounding terrain.
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