Cobalt cements greenest data centre accolade with prestigious BREEAM Award

Renowned sustainability assessor presents DC2 with ‘Data Centre’ prize.

Developer Highbridge has confirmed that its new DC2 facility at Cobalt Park in Newcastle was awarded the ‘Data Centres’ category prize during the prestigious annual BREEAM Awards ceremony this week.


The BREEAM Awards are presented to the highest scoring building assessments certified under BREEAM Schemes in the last year, celebrating the greenest and most sustainable constructions in the United Kingdom and the achievements of those involved in their specification, design and construction.


Guy Marsden of developer Highbridge Properties plc said “This award is a fantastic accolade for our Data Centre Campus at Cobalt Park. As a developer with a long term commitment to the North East, we are dedicated to investing in the highest standards of real estate, and that includes ensuring that our buildings are as sustainable as possible.


“DC2, along with neighbouring DC3, has already achieved the much coveted BREEAM Outstanding rating and the interim stage, and DC1 has achieved an Excellent rating, making this the greenest data centre complex in the United Kingdom. This BREEAM Award is the icing on the cake.”

Matt Winter, Director of Critical Systems at Cundall, comments, “It is fair to say that data centres are not traditionally associated with being ‘green’, and a 2012 industry census[1] indicated that in the UK alone the data centre market has a power demand of 2.85 GW, estimating a rise to 3.15GW by 2016. In recent years, however, data centre designers and manufacturers have made significant improvements in efficiency.

“DC2 and DC3 are to date the only data centres in the UK to receive an Outstanding rating from BREEAM, the highest green specification available for a new building. This industry award is a very welcome endorsement and I’m delighted that the hard work of the professional team, and the commitment to excellence from Highbridge, has been acknowledged in this way.”


The state-of-the-art Cobalt Data Centre Campus sits within its own fenced perimeter, and provides a combined 110,450 sq ft of white space, with an IT capacity of between 15 and 20MW. Each building will also have a second fenced compound with anti-tailgating gates and CCTV.


Overall, the 3 new data centre buildings at Cobalt can in combination provide a total of 12 separate halls - each of which will be independently serviced with its own plant on an N+1 basis. 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 DC2 and DC3 facilities are single storey and can accommodate either air optimisation or traditional water cooling plant.


The professional team comprises multi-disciplinary consultant engineers Cundall, contractor Bowmer & Kirkland, award winning architects Woods Bagot, and employer’s agent EC Harris. Norland is appointed to manage the first stage fit-out of an 11,475 sq ft hall in DC1, which will be completed by April 2013. CBRE is the letting agent on the scheme.