DATA CENTRES FANS
At BCS, we were
pragmatic and creative with our approach as always – looking at ways to split out the shell and the core of the building – eff ectively separating out this scope. This enabled projects to maintain the construction start date on the
assumption that the external
architecture was unaff ected.
This was against a backdrop of a sector that was under increasing pressure to deliver a strong supply of resilient, sustainable and relevant data centres and real concerns that the pace of AI adoption might be restricted by the ability of the market to deliver a suffi cient supply of data centres to house it.
At BCS, we were pragmatic and creative with our
approach as always – looking at ways to split out the shell and the core of the building – eff ectively separating out this scope. This enabled projects to maintain the construction start date on the assumption that the external architecture was unaff ected. We advised that we could design the cooling solution concurrently, looking at complementary solutions such as creating a large area outside where equipment could be housed and benefi t from the cooler air. Advances in cooling technology, such as liquid immersion cooling with the use of recycled water or non-potable water, off ered sustainable solutions and could alleviate the pressure on freshwater resources.
The market was driving the construction start KPIs and Download the ACR News app today
www.acr-news.com • November 2024 23
completion dates and we were looking to minimise any delays and maintain timelines wherever possible. Medium term, this wouldn’t be a major issue as once the fi rst ones were completed and fully tested the rest would follow and it would be a case of rinse and repeat but we did expect a short-term period of pain which was exacerbated by a lack of skilled consultants. At the time, we estimated that there were around 50 data centres in various stages of design and construction in the UK alone with the vast majority requiring a redesign of the cooling mechanics. This was a lot of man hours for an industry with a well-documented skills shortage and might have resulted in further delays. In conclusion, for the data centre industry, success in the AI era depended on the ability to optimise solutions, innovate continuously, embrace new technologies, and implement strategies that balanced performance, cost, and sustainability. As AI continued to evolve, we had to adapt to meet these growing demands while mitigating the associated challenges.
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