Secure I.T. Environments designs and builds Proximity data centre

Secure I.T. Environments has announced the handover of a 1MW, 200 cabinet, data centre design and build project for Proximity Data Centres, a UK-wide provider of edge data centre and colocation services.

Designed, built and project managed by Secure I.T. Environments, the new facility was built into the ground floor of an existing building containing data centres, and is 441sqm in size.  The perimeter of the data centre was based on a 60 minute fire-rated modular wall and roof construction, which included a separate UPS and switch room located in another area.

The Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) specification was designed to comfortably handle a constant 1MW load, based on 200-cabinets at 5kW per cabinet.  The modular design of the M&E infrastructure means that components can be added to support the needed load in incremental phases to match the IT load.

Energy efficient N+1 air conditioning, was supplied and installed throughout the installation, as well as Novec fire suppression and VESDA detection, extraction systems, environmental controls and security systems, including CCTV, door access systems, intruder alarms and leak detection. 

The project included the management of planning permission applications for all plant equipment on site, and ensuring compliance with development, health & safety, and building control regulations at every stage for both construction and fire safety compliance.  A full-time project team was allocated to the project, conducting regular inspections to ensure contract specifications and quality were maintained.

John Hall, Managing Director, Colocation at Proximity Data Centres, said, “This was a significant expansion of the data centre services we offer at a key site, and we wanted to ensure the best possible outcomes.  The data centre has been designed to achieve the best possible annualised PUE and Secure I.T. Environments has done an excellent job of delivering the project, handling every aspect of construction, installation and testing.”

Chris Wellfair, Projects Director at Secure I.T. Environments, added, “It is always great to work with clients that are truly committed to having the most energy efficient data centres.  Having complete ownership of a data centre project, means we can ensure the most efficient build programme, and for our clients means they have only one place to go to get things done and discuss progress.  It is great to be handing over this data centre to Proximity on time, in budget, and to a world class specification.”