Developer Highbridge Properties plc has confirmed that DC2 and DC3, the latest facilities to be completed on their purpose built Cobalt Park Data Centre Campus near Newcastle, have both been awarded a BREEAM Outstanding rating at the interim stage, the highest green specification available for new building. They are the only UK data centers to achieve such a rating to date.
 ))
The achievement closely follows the earlier BREEAM Excellent status awarded to DC1, the initial building to be constructed at the state-of-the-art campus, creating what will be the greenest data center facility in the UK.
Guy Marsden, Highbridge Properties, comments, "We are delighted that both of our new buildings have achieved BREEAM Outstanding. It is a measure of our investment in, and commitment to, this facility and to the North East of England, to build the highest specification, and greenest, data center facility".
BREEAM Outstanding is awarded to exemplar building projects where sustainable principles have been fundamental to the brief. In determining the rating, DC2 and DC3 will have been assessed against a broad range of environmental impacts, such as energy, pollution, land use and materials.
Designed by award winning architects Woods Bagot in conjunction with multi-disciplinary consultant engineers Cundall, the DC2 and DC3 facilities are single story and can accommodate either air optimization or traditional water cooling plant.
Matt Winter, Director of Critical Systems at Cundall said, "We adopted a holistic approach to the design, and the everyday cooling for the data centers is very much part of the green strategy. The indirect air cooling technique plays a huge part to allow a PUE of 1.12 to be achieved. We are thrilled that DC2 and DC3 are the only data centers in the UK to achieve BREEAM 'Outstanding' rating."
The data center offering at Cobalt constitutes a combined 110,450 ft² (approx. 10,300 m²) of white space with an IT capacity of between 15 and 20MW. Overall, the 3 new data center buildings at the Cobalt Data Centre campus can provide between them a total of 12 separate halls - each of which will be independently serviced with its own plant on an N+1 basis.
The campus sits within its own fenced perimeter, and each building will have a second fenced compound with anti-tailgating gates and CCTV. The facility benefits from dedicated 2 x 40MVA power delivered through diversified cable routes from the adjoining National Grid supply point to the Campus.
The professional team comprises Contractor Bowmer & Kirkland and Architects Woods Bagot, with BREEAM assessor Cundall providing critical M&E and structural services, and EC Harris the employer's agent. CBRE is Highbridge's letting agent on the scheme. Norland is appointed to manage the first stage fit-out of an 11,475 ft² (approx. 1070 m²) hall in DC1, which will be completed by April 2013.
Source: FTI Consulting
