REAL ESTATE

Hot and Cold: One of Orange County’s hottest engineering firms has gone south--to subfreezing temperatures.

Holmes & Narver Inc. is in the antarctic helping to manage an expedition by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The Orange-based company is in charge of setting up laboratories and computer hardware on an ice-breaking research ship.

“The ship will house about 25 scientists who are studying sea life and the makeup of the ocean,” said Zoltan Stacho, president of Holmes & Narver. Scientists will examine ancient ice in search of fossils, he said. Researchers will also gather data on world climate and ocean currents to study the effects of global warming.

“The ship has the capability of moving through solid ice areas at 4 m.p.h.,” Stacho said. It was specially constructed for the expedition, which began earlier this month.

Stacho said the antarctic endeavor is the 59-year-old company’s “most unusual project.”