Skip to footer About Us Contact Us Search Menu HYDROCK SECTORS DATA CENTRES Data Centres We are at the forefront of designing data centres, identifying the opportunities for creating energy resilience and efficiency and responding to the increased focus placed on ESG factors by the investment community. Data centres are intrinsically linked with enormous power demands that must be maintained at all costs, requiring highly secure and protected spaces with an uninterruptable power supply. As engineers, our expertise helps developers and operators of data centres to be more energy efficient and through the recovery of waste heat, an enabler for low carbon energy networks. By considering data centres as a ‘thermal battery’, they can be used as a heat source. Many data centres already operate on renewable energy, however, they are producing a significant amount of heat. The key in the early conceptual stages of design is to factor in the technology to capture this waste heat and re-use it effectively and efficiently. The technology and the process exist, and the opportunity to create value is real. We see Hydrock’s role as working with our project partners to make it common place. The big issues Our teams are experts at getting under the skin of how you can plan for the future and maximise opportunities. Just some of the big issues that we’re witnessing include: Increased electrical demand Due to increased server densities and rack cooling loads in excess of 50Kw, electrical demands on data centre sites have increased considerably in the last 5 years, with capacities in excess of 100MW often found. It means grid connection points and associated infrastructure need to be carefully considered and planned years in advance. Edge data centres In the next five years we are likely to see the emergence of ‘edge data centres’, as the decrease in the size of the servers means data centres can fit into smaller spaces. This makes them viable to be rolled out across the country and have a place in every town centre, moving closer to where people are, to keep up with consumer demands from the increasing number of home appliances all talking to the internet. Opportunity for on-site energy storage Due to their large electrical capacities, data centres now require National Grid connection points, which in turn brings the advantage of very secure and reliable electrical supplies. This allows the use of battery storage in lieu of traditional standby generation, which can be used to support the site and also generate revenue and make achieving planning permission easier. Environmental, social and governance factors Investors are increasingly shaping their funding decisions on the ESG credentials of both the tenant and the overall sustainability credentials of the scheme. Understanding whole lifecycle carbon emissions and the decisions made both in choice of construction and operation are critical to creating a successful asset. Health and wellbeing Ensuring that the overall workplace and surrounds is attractive to employees, is of increasing importance to data centre operators. Attention has turned to inclusion of external views, internal and external green spaces and exercise facilities. Recovery and reuse of waste energy Increasing server densities and higher data hall temperatures allows the recovery of rejected energy from the servers. This coupled with the increasing adoption of district heat networks and colocation with facilities requiring heat, means that the data centre can be used as a thermal battery to provide low carbon energy, assisting in the fight against the climate emergency. Our Services: Hydrock’s ability to offer an integrated engineering approach means that we can guide the delivery of the data centre from feasibility through to handover. Our full range of services include: Environmental Management Civil & Structural Engineering Building Performance Engineering Geotechnics and Land Quality Transport planning Fire Safety Engineering Smart Energy and Sustainability Acoustics and Air Quality Our track record Park Royal, London/Site Capacity: 48MW Outline design/Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Iver, Buckinghamshire/ Site Capacity: 84MW Outline design, planning submission report/Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP, Utility Engineering & Sustainability Croydon, London/Site Capacity: 150MW Site feasibility study/Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Croydon, London/Site Capacity: 100MW Site feasibility study/Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Iver, Buckinghamshire/ Site Capacity: 100MW Site feasibility study /Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Farnborough, Hampshire/ Site Capacity: 52MW Site feasibility study /Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Iver, Buckinghamshire/ Site Capacity: 27MW Site feasibility study /Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Windsor, Berkshire/ Site Capacity: 115MW Site feasibility study /Indirect Adiabatic Cooling/MEP & Utility Engineering Hemel Hempstead, Hertforshire/ Site Capacity: 50MW Site feasibility study / Utility Engineering Paris, France / Site capacity 40MW Detailed design / Multi-disciplinary design/ Contractor side role Surrey/ Site capacity 32MW RIBA Stage 2 - 3 / Multi-disciplinary design Park Royal, London / Site capacity 72MW RIBA Stages 4B-5, MEP/Detailed Design for main contractor Park Royal, London/Site Capacity: 50MW Outline design/Planning Permission Support/ Utility Engineering, Structural Engineering, Transport Assessment/Framework Travel Plan/Outline Delivery and Logistics Plan/Outline Construction/ Logistics Plan/Air Quality Assessment/Noise Assessment/Daylight and Sunlight Assessment/ Archaeological Assessment/Built Heritage Statement/Fire Safety Statement/Outline Site Waste Management Plan/Lighting Strategy Farnborough, Hampshire Site investigation/Detailed Geotechnical Designs/Structural and Civil Engineering Designs incorporated a dynamic compaction approach to ground conditions allowing construction of a simple ground bearing foundation slab, providing significant cost savings with 6 data halls, each cooled by 1MW indirect air-cooling (IDAO) systems Newport, Wales/Site Capacity: 40MW Civil Engineering/Structural Engineering/Fire Safety Engineering/Acoustics Services. Housing ten data halls, the new £80m data centre will house ten data halls with a total capacity of 40MW, doubling the current capacity of the campus. The massive 25,500m² building will include the data halls, offices and backup generators, while the site-wide infrastructure design will include significant rainwater harvesting tanks and a 15m deep caisson, all designed to SuDS regulations in Wales. Key People Chris Jones TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, BPE CHRISJONES@HYDROCK.COM+44 (0)7970 318229 Dave Berry TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DAVEBERRY@HYDROCK.COM+44(0) 7824 663664 Matt Ace DIRECTOR, CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING MATTHEWACE@HYDROCK.COM+44(0) 7828 523707 Tim King DIRECTOR, STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING TIMKING@HYDROCK.COM+44(0) 7786 560453 Back to top About us What we do Specialisms Sectors Projects Careers Contact us News Our people Hydrock webinars Our policies and statements Hydrock Gender Pay Gap Report 2020 Working with Hydrock during COVID-19 KTA Cookies Privacy Notice Terms and conditions All content © 2021 Hydrock