Designing a data centre for a University in the UK
Project data sheet
Type of project
Data center feasibility study
Location
Birmingham, England
Area
2000m²
Design
2012-2013
Team
Alex Reid, Sam Ross Gower
In partnership with a locally based team in England, Reid Brewin Architects worked on a feasibility study for a data center project on behalf of an English University on the other side of the Channel.
To do this, we worked with a British engineering firm to study a project to develop an integrated data center. In England, universities have seen their incomes increase with the increasing number of foreign students and referral fees. They are now seeking to invest on their campuses and particularly in infrastructure, so as to be better placed to attract more foreign students.
Organising a bilingual project across multiple countries
We therefore examined two alternatives: renovate or expand existing infrastructure. Infrastructure is often outdated, as we have often learnt working on the renovation of other sites. As part of this project, we worked in English with teams based in England taking into account local regulations and requirements related to the practice of architecture in the UK. A project that that benefits from our two main areas of expertise: data center construction and coordination of multicultural teams.“White space” is often used to describe the data hall spaces that contain the computer servers
