Our significant expansion of Netwise London East (NLE) is now well underway, which is Phase 3 of development at our flagship data centre.
This will result in the addition of two new data halls, alongside a range of additional amenities and site features. Works began in December 2024, and will continue throughout 2025, with various completion milestones at multiple stages along the way.
The main focus at this stage is the installation of the new mezzanine, as this forms the basis of the entire internal sub-structure, around which we build our facilities (as seen at our London Central site, and also the current footprint at London East).
Here are some photo updates from the early stages of Phase 3:
Some of the earliest works centred around a full internal and external renovation of the new unit, including a significant amount of work on the roofThe exterior cladding of the building also enjoyed a full refinish, which will become evident in later photosThis is the view across to the expansion project within the new unit, from the existing facility entrance / footprintThe inside of the new space also required significant refurbishment before our main works schedule beganThe front-of-house areas also got completely ripped out ahead of a total refurbishmentWe’ll be adding further office and administration spaces in this new side of the facility, and the existing upstairs office also saw a full strip-out ahead of refurbishmentThis is the main frontage of the extended footprint after the completion of the initial refurbishment, ahead of our main works schedule commencingThis space will become a second / extended NOC and operations space, after the initial refurbishment, and with the new carpet covered ready for the next phase of work to beginThe site has been fully prepared for our main work schedule here, including all protective covering of newly installed surfaces, and the various required temporary site boards and signage in placeThe temporary signage extends to all areas of the siteOne of the existing ground floor spaces has become the on-site canteen and break room, ready for the various contractors that will be working on-site in the coming monthsOne of the early stage jobs, beyond our initial laser survey of the space, is to laser plot the main column locations for the new mezzanine sub-structureWith such a high degree of accuracy required for the installation of the mezzanine, collaboration between engineers, project managers and installers is keyA view across the main space, as column locations are marked up according to the installation plansHere are some of the many heavy-duty custom steel columns as delivered, ahead of installationA view across the main space, following the initial refurbishment, as the main work schedule beginsAnother view across the main space, following the initial refurbishment, as the main work schedule beginsThe mezzanine sub-structure is a surprisingly quick component to install, with much of the work front-loaded during the planning and engineering phaseThe mezzanine is installed in bays / sections, and progresses across the space from the initial column locationsA view of the mezzanine progress from the rear corner of the new spaceWe have an installation timelapse of the mezzanine install, which we’ll be making available in the near future – 19,000 photos in total!Here we see part of the structure standing in isolation, ahead of the installation of the purlins that will make up this particular bayThis is the underside of a partially complete bayHere we see further progress, as the temporary safety netting is installed to the underside of the mezzanine ahead of installing the top surfaceThe main beams are partially assembled on the ground, ahead of lifting into placeA view of progress as the mezzanine structure continues to take shapeA view of the underside of the structure, as top surface boards begin to be positionedThe boards are fixed to the structure, and will form the initial face upon which the next stage is built, which will be the main envelopeHere we look down from the partially completed half of the structure, which will continue across this span to the far side of the spaceDespite the expansion project taking place within an adjoining unit to the existing live footprint, the two spaces will be combined into a single facility – as part of this, we will be breaching between the two units; we have installed temporary dust and fire barriers, ahead of the cut through processHere we can see the initial breach of the outer skin of the envelope within the ground floor corridorProgress continues with the mezzanine installationThe view here is taken from what will eventually be the cooling plant area for Data Hall 6 – the two halls within this new expansion will be larger than those within the current footprint, each housing three containment podsThe final columns being cross-checked after installation, as the mezzanine continues towards completionA view back across the mezzanine structure, as works progressThe scissor lifts work in conjunction with our forklift in getting components to the correct height for installationThe view looks across the area that will make up Data Hall 6 on the ground floor of the new spaceThis view is from the approximate eventual location of Pod 3 within Data Hall 6All parts of the steel structure are now complete, with only the remaining top surface installation to goThe view here looks across to the outside face of the facility, which will house offices, a new meeting room, and supporting electrical infrastructure for the new data hallsThis is the view from the top surface as it continues towards completion – this is taken from the eventual first floor corridor, looking into the area that will house Data Hall 5The top surface installation continues hereMembers of the Netwise team undertake regular inspections as part of the installation processThis view sits on the edge of what will become the B-side UPS and switchgear room for the two new data halls, and the associated cable access corridor (a new cable handling methodology that we’re deploying as part of the expansion) – the new meeting room will be directly above thisHere we see the underside of the completed mezzanine structureAnother view of the completed mezzanine, as viewed from the eventual location of Pod 3 in Data Hall 6, looking towards the eventual location of the UPS rooms and cable access corridorsThe completed structure, as seen from the new loading bay area, with temporary barriers in place until the envelope is installedThe next action on the underside of the mezzanine structure will be the column encasementsHere we see the top side of the new structure, as some minor additional works begin on the sky lightsThis is the view from the eventual location of Pod 3 within Data Hall 5, looking across to the eventual location of the new offices and meeting spaceOur scaffold tower is being used for roof-level access now that the top surface is completeThe insulation and closure of the sky lights can be seen underway hereAll of the sky lights above the data halls will be insulated and closed off as part of the pre-envelope works, which replicates the setup in the existing live data hallsOur facilities team are undertaking this work, ahead of the next major contractor stage – the envelopeThe view down into the new loading bay, as viewed from the edge of the mezzanine, where the access corridor will be located – there will be level loading capabilities here, as with the existing loading bay
As you can see, we’ve been able to make quite an impressive start to the project. To have the mezzanine complete in the first week of January sets up our work schedule incredibly well, allowing for the envelope to begin later this month.
We have also now started a range of other preparatory works ahead of this, including the insulation and closure of the skylights, encasement of the columns with fire protection, and some of the breaching works for interconnecting the units and other internal areas.
We have more updates coming as part of Phase 2 soon also, so watch this space for plenty more build content throughout Q1 2025 and beyond.
As we close the doors on yet another record-beating year at Netwise, we can now take a look back at the last 12 months of change and development, which have been host to major leaps forward in a wide range of areas within the organisation.
We always knew that 2024 would be a big year, and we were not wrong. In the last 12 months, we have made great strides in the development of our London East facility, which continues to grow into one of London’s most compelling independent data centre offerings.
Perhaps the most important project of 2025 began late in 2024 – our expansion project at NLE, which will see the onlining of two new data halls this year
Here are some of the headlines from 2024:
Netwise turned 15 – having been founded in 2009, Netwise turned 15 in 2024, which is a great milestone and a testament to the unwavering stability of the organisation.
We fully deployed Data Hall 4 – Data Hall 4 reached completion in early 2024, allowing for continued client deployments throughout the year. The build process for Data Hall 4 can be found on our #BuildBlog.
The deployment of Data Hall 3 began – in the closing stages of 2024, we began pre-stage works on Data Hall 3, which is the final hall for deployment in the current footprint at London East (ahead of the large-scale expansion in 2025). This will be the final hall as part of the Phase 2 development cycle, and will be documented on our #BuildBlog in the coming months.
We closed NLC in the summer – the summer of 2024 saw the closure of our legacy site in Bermondsey, Netwise London Central. This was a very large project that had been under planning for many months prior to execution, resulting in an extremely smooth closure process once the work schedule began. This included extensive decommissioning works, while also continuing with the Phase 2 development schedule at London East.
We migrated all live systems from NLC to NLE – as part of the NLC closure, we migrated all client systems from NLC to NLE. This was a very complex operation spanning eight evenings in total, with the entire operation being completed extremely smoothly, thanks to the extensive planning phase, and the in-house expertise of our world-class team. In total, 126 enclosures were moved out of NLC.
We upgraded our core network – all of our on-net nodes received an extensive upgrade in the first half of the year, increasing overall capacity and improving performance for clients that utilise our world-class transit network.
Lee Smith joined as Junior Engineer – in Q4, we expanded our team with the joining of Lee, our new Junior Engineer, who is already and integral part of our in-house electrical engineering team. Expect a full introductory post very soon.
The NLE expansion project officially started in Q4 – very late in 2024, we broke ground on the next phase of development at NLE. The installation of the mezzanine structure within the new footprint began in December – you can expect plenty of #BuildBlog updates as Phase 3 progresses in 2025.
Works began on the full redevelopment of our customer portal – we have big plans for our customer portal in 2025 and beyond, as we begin a full rework of the UI/UX. We’ve teamed up with the same outfit behind our company rebrand and main website redesign from 2019 for this project, and we hope to have more news on this later in the year. The design of this new portal began in the closing stages of 2024, as a collaborative project including our development team.
Aside to the somewhat unique task of closing NLC, the main focus of the year has absolutely centred around the continued expansion of our flagship data centre, NLE. This likely comes as no real surprise, given the pace at which our services are being taken up in the market, and the unabating growth within the sector as a whole. Our current forecasting sees no slow up in this ongoing trend, and as such we will continue to invest heavily in our future at NLE and beyond.
The closure of NLC in the summer was a notable milestone for Netwise, as focus shifts to the ongoing development of NLE
Looking past the more tangible projects in 2024, financial performance has again been exceptionally positive, which further solidifies our position as a leader in the market, providing unmatched stability for our growing roster of clients, and of course enabling our expansion in the years ahead. Base revenues for the year have grown by 21% – despite the distraction of closing NLC in the summer – which in our fifteenth year of operation is all the more remarkable.
The internal fit-out of Phase 3 is now well underway, which will house Data Halls 5 and 6, along with a host of exciting new amenities
In short, 2024 has been another incredible year for Netwise, setting us up for another truly exceptional year in 2025.
So, how are things looking for the year ahead? We’re expecting more of the same, with a major focus on the completion of Phase 2 (Data Hall 3), and the larger expansion project as part of Phase 3, which will run in tandem throughout the first few months of the year (Data Halls 5 and 6, plus amenities). While we can’t comment too far in advance on other plans for the year, we do have some very exciting developments in the works, that could see further expansion plans confirmed before the end of 2025 – watch this space!
We’re very excited for you to meet our Engineering Manager, Josh Carvalho.
Josh joined us back in late 2023, from the demanding world of electrical engineering, having spent the formative years of his career garnering extensive experience across all facets of electrical system design and implementation.
With a passion for powering the future and an impressive background in the design and installation of critical power systems, Josh brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge to our ever-growing team. His arrival marked another pivotal moment in our journey, as we continue to strengthen our position as a world-leading data centre operator.
As our Engineering Manager, Josh plays a crucial role in shaping the future of Netwise and its deployed assets. His leadership, technical acumen, and commitment to excellence has undoubtedly resulted in another ‘level up’ to our in-house capabilities, as we continue to expand our suite of services.
Josh can be found working his magic across all areas of our data centres, keeping them in top-tip shape around the clock for our clientsElectrical engineering sits front and centre of any data centre operation, so having Josh head this up internally for us is a major operational advantage
Josh’s arrival has tangibly demonstrated our unwavering commitment to providing only the very highest quality of service to our clients, with limited reliance on any third parties.
You can expect to see Josh in a design and implementation role across our core infrastructure, as well as in the field, getting hands on with the systems responsible for keeping your business online 24×7.
This month we’re very happy to officially announce the next major phase of development and expansion at our Netwise London East (NLE) data centre.
We’re facilitating this expansion by pushing into the adjacent building on the Datapoint estate, which sits alongside our existing four-hall facility. This will result in a single expanded facility housing six high-specification data halls.
The new space will be a direct continuation of the design language already employed in the existing spaces at NLEThe initial unit refurbishment works to prepare the space for the main technical fit-out have begun
The initial fit-out phase began in July, with the main internal schedule of technical works set to begin in early 2025. This project will expand NLE by 168 racks, increasing the total internal area of the building by around 13,000ft2.
The new building is being fully refurbished – both inside and out – following the departure of the previous occupants, ahead of the main work schedule which will start thereafter.
The new space will house an additional 168 racks, across two data halls, alongside a range of other client and staff amenities
This is our first major step towards developing NLE into a campus-style facility, which spans multiple buildings on the same estate. The two units will become a single operational building, with multiple pass-through points for clients and staff, as well as for the sharing of core services.
Alongside the additional rack capacity, this new space will also introduce further amenities and technical features, including increased capacity for staff, a second loading bay and storage area, more on-site parking and EV charging, as well as improvements to our water handling capabilities.
There will also be flexible space held for future use, which will provide additional service options for potential wholesale customers, for things such as private on-site NOC capabilities.
This new addition to NLE will create an impressive frontage, and allow for the segregation of facility entrances for staff and clients
"This represents another seven-figure investment by Netwise in its own future, and the future of its clients. To be announcing this level of growth at NLE only a couple of years after the first clients moved in is something we're very proud of; it's a testament to the strength of this sector, and our own position within it."Matt Seaton, Director
The uptake of services at NLE has been extremely impressive since it soft-opened in the spring of 2022, with the phased fit-out schedule just keeping pace with demand. The current building now has three of the four data halls deployed. The final hall in this building is scheduled to be online by the end of 2024.
A view inside the new space, as early-stage works begin – this includes a new roof, as the shell is prepared ahead of occupation by our internal fit-out team
The two new halls coming as part of the facility expansion project will be larger than the halls in the current building, housing 84 racks per hall at maximum rack density – a 33% increase per hall. These new halls will house three containment pods each, giving greater scope for private space options.
In June, the Netwise London Central (NLC) facility officially closed, having served clients for 10 years. The forthcoming expansion at Netwise London East would become one of the main driving factors behind the decision to shutter NLC, as many core components within the site reached end of life.
The large seven-figure reinvestment required to adequately refresh NLC has instead been diverted to the new facility, which has the forward-looking scope to springboard Netwise into the next phase in its growth cycle.
Matthew Butt, Managing Director, and Matt Seaton, Director, stood outside of NLC on the day of its final closure, after a decade of active service
The NLE expansion comes as Netwise continues to welcome an exciting range of new clients into its facilities, as well as facilitating the growth of its long-standing customers.
"We always knew that we'd be expanding NLE in time, to facilitate our growth trajectory, however to be at that stage already is a tangible demonstration of our performance and reputation in this industry. I'm very excited by this next phase, particularly as we come out the back of the NLC closure, which required considerable care and attention."Matthew Butt, Managing Director
The expansion of NLE will bolster our position as a leading data centre operator in the high-demand East London / Docklands region, as we further the already significant investments made in our flagship facility, which has been in operation since mid-2022.
The entire Netwise team is extremely excited to see this next phase take shape
While finer details of the technical plans are still expected to develop over the closing months of 2024, the overarching plans are already locked in, and can be discussed with interested parties that may be looking to utilise bulk space in the new side of the facility.
This expansion will dramatically increase the total size of the NLE facility, taking the total internal area to around 26,000ft2 – external compound space will also be increased for parking and plant areas
The Netwise team cannot wait to show you around the new side of the facility as it develops. And as always, the #buildblog will be back in action, documenting the entire build process, so be sure to keep an eye out for new posts.
It’s been a while since we last published a Phase 2 update from Netwise London East (NLE), so we thought it would be a good time to update everyone on the current state of play.
We’ve been remarkably busy with both the ongoing expansion works at NLE, alongside the closure of Netwise London Central (NLC), which was retired from active service in early June.
Data Hall 4 went live in May, and quite remarkably, it’s already a touch over half full, despite opening to new clients just a couple of months ago. This is in large part thanks to the absorption of our customer base from NLC, which we migrated over the course of eight evenings in May, however we have also welcomed a host of exciting new clients into our latest data hall.
Let’s take a look at what’s been happening. We start with updates from back in mid-April, before jumping ahead to current day:
As part of commissioning the primary cooling system in Data Hall 4, a number of adjustments were made to the global cooling control system, as we implemented a new hot air extraction methodologyHere we see the early stages of the air intake louvres being cut into the rear fabric of the building, ahead of the first filtration layer frames being installedCommissioning the power delivery system inside of DH4 formed the latter stages of the deployment schedule for this roomWe commissioned UPS systems for both DH4 and the forthcoming DH3 at the same time, to front-load some of the later commissioning works for the final hall deployment in Phase 2Bringing UPS’s online is a major part of any data hall commissioning schedule, enabling the delivery of power to end user racksHere we see the rear of the fully-completed and commissioned UPS arrangement in LV Room BThis is a view of the fully-completed and commissioned UPS arrangement in LV Room AWe showed you our LOTO board in the last update, but here’s another look at the customised board, which is used extensively as we continue to deploy capacity at NLEHere’s a closer view of one of the locks used to safely lock out a circuit which is pending commissioning, or under maintenanceIn addition to the LOTO board and accessories, we also have rescue boards in each of the LV Rooms – we’re adding some additional exciting electrical safety features in the coming months, which haven’t yet been seen in UK data centres, so watch this space for more news on thatHere we see the core network upgrade as deployed on the B-side of the network at NLE – this was part of our full network-wide upgrade, which happened across several months in Q1/2, a six figure investment in our network as it continues to grow rapidlyThis is the view across Data Hall 4, a few days before racks would begin landing for our new client waiting list, as well as the first racks migrating from NLCThis is another view across DH4 as we prepared the space for imminent client move in datesHere we see the first racks being positioned, based on the initial requirements within the space – the containment systems for Pods 1 and 2 were then constructed around racks after the first wave of new client installs and rack migrations from NLCAnother view of early staging works in DH4Now we jump ahead to DH4 as it stands today, in July 2024Here we see both pods within DH4 at around 50% capacity, ahead of the glass door vinyl’s being appliedA view across DH4, with a crash cart in use – we have these Ergotron models deployed in each hallThe hall is now under heavy use by new and existing clients – we now move onto the deployment schedule for DH3
It’s fair to say that this summer has already been one of our busiest periods on record. Deploying a new data hall at NLE is no small task in itself, but to deliver this alongside the decommissioning of NLC – which also involved the in-house planning and execution of an entire facility migration – leaves us feeling incredibly proud of the team we have driving Netwise. The complexity of successfully realising a multi-faceted project like this cannot be understated, and seeing these tasks result in tangible improvements to service for our clients is always incredibly pleasing, particularly after making seven figure investments in our future here at London East.
But as with any operation of this nature, these are just the headline deliverable outcomes that have been worked on over the past several months. We’ve undertaken plenty of additional projects in tandem over the last quarter, which may be of interest to our readers.
We completed our full core network upgrade in May, with the final upgrade – and the most major works list – happening at our HEX/LD8 node. This involved a full conversion of this location to our Supernode architecture, which in this case required a full cabinet swap to accommodate. This type of thing requires considerable planning, however our team were able to complete the entire works list within the four hour maintenance window, which was an impressive feat. We also undertook a minor upgrade to our core node in Redcentric Shoreditch (formerly CLL), which brought the entire network upgrade project to completion. This comes as demand on our network grows rapidly, delivering world-class connectivity to clients across all of our on-net locations.
We also grew our fleet in spring, with the addition of an electric pick-up truck, and our own low-loader, which is perfect for rack migrations. The latter vehicle comes in a relatively rare specification for us, with extra height and a 750kg tail lift, which makes it absolutely ideal for the movement of fully populated racks – a game changer for most facility migration projects.
The first addition was 002 – this is our electric pick up truck, which is perfect for trips between our various London PoPsThe most recent addition to the fleet is 003 – this is our low loader with uprated tail lift, which makes for the perfect rack migration vehicle These join 001 – our original van which is still our most utilised vehicles
As part of bringing Data Hall 4 online in May, we rolled out new cooling system architecture, which involved some adjustments to how the extraction side of the system works. We now have a twin-hall shared extraction plenum, with a centralised control system, which we believe to be the first of its kind for an evaporative system such as ours. This involved the expert design work of multiple teams, and will also be a part of the roll-out for Data Hall 3 later this year.
Further to this, we have additional cooling being deployed in all data halls in the next few weeks, through the modular installation of further evaporative coolers. Each room is growing from four CREC units, to six CREC units.
NLC closure and migration project
In May, we migrated all of the clients in our London Central facility to our new London East facility.
This took many months of planning, however we were able to complete the physical migration process in just eight evening sessions – a real testament to our broad in-house capabilities.
All 126 enclosures were successfully transitioned to our London East facility (with a few landing in other on-net locations where required), with most racks moved in a fully-populated state. This allowed for minimal client disruption, and the fastest possible transition from one site to the other. The fastest migration window took just two hours, from power down at NLC, to being back online at NLE.
Here we have some photos of the now retired facility, which served our clients well for nearly a decade:
The main office and NOC at NLC, following strip-out and decommissioningA look at Data Hall 1, following strip-out and decommissioningA final look at the outside of NLC, following a full de-branding of the building
The end of an era, but the beginning of a truly special new chapter for Netwise, as we focus on our campus site, London East. We will be expanding this location significantly in the coming months – more on this very soon.
What’s next?
The biggest upcoming build work will be the onlining of Data Hall 3, the final hall in the current building at Netwise London East. Work will begin on this hall in the coming weeks. This will be the final component of Phase 2, before Phase 3 works begin in late 2024 / early 2025 – this will be a major development phase.
We hope to announce the next phase of works in an official capacity in the next few weeks.
Otherwise, we will continue to welcome new clients to our world-class facilities, along with the provision of assistance to existing clients looking to grow. This is an exciting time for Netwise, and we look forward to sharing more news with you very soon.
