Another two weeks of work are now in the books on-site at NLE. We’re now just two weeks away from the main mezzanine going in, which will house the technical side of the facility, including all four data halls.

This most recent fortnight of work has seen some of the open jobs complete – or at least reach near-completion – as we look to totally sign-off all preparation works before the large envelope construction begins.

Weekly overview

Focus remained on preparing our new loading bay and warehouse area on-site at NLE this past couple of weeks, along with time spent back at NLC completing some other necessary works and actions.

Our new loading bay, warehouse and workshop area is now complete (though still pending a final photo of the mezzanine end-capping in the final grey finish), which ties in with the visual language of the workshop and loading bay area at NLC.

We’ve also taken delivery of some more interesting items, including the turnstile for NLE, another forklift to join our growing fleet, and some of the main components of the UPS for NLE phase one.

We’re also able to share with you some new design drawings, which show the forthcoming mezzanine installation for the envelope portion of the build – an exciting look behind the scenes.

What we hope comes across most clearly from photos of non-technical works is the extreme level of quality and attention to detail we’re carrying over to NLE. It’s a large part of what NLC is known for, and something we’re extremely proud to carry through to every aspect of our operation.

What’s else has been happening?

We’ve bought another new forklift!

Meet Linde V2. She’s been delivered to NLC to assist with the movement of some heavy equipment, including 17 tons of UPS and batteries which have now been shipped across Europe.

She will be heading over to join Linde V1 at NLE in the coming weeks.

We’ve also started installing some new checkerplate at NLC. The entry door to Data Hall 1 has been clad on both sides, with more to be installed inside the data hall in the coming two weeks.

We’ll provide updates on the data hall installation of the same checkerplate as it goes in.

Envelope mezzanine design

We’re working with a number of design and build contractors for the steel work, along with a private building services coordinator, for getting our in-house designs realised – both initially in 3D, and in later in reality.

Here are a few early-stage output renders of the main mezzanine, showing the access staircase and open atrium that will also house the lift shaft.

Next time around, we’ll show you more of the containment for the data halls, as they’re coordinated into our master drawings.

We’ll be providing further insight into the design side of the build project over the coming weeks, as more of our area and system designs are coordinated into the master drawings.

What’s next?

In short, another fortnight of preparation works.

From 6th July, the main envelope works will begin in earnest, likely to take around two months to fully complete. While our contractors undertake this work, we will also be bolstering the perimeter compound fencing, to match the security standards found at NLC.

Another busy couple of weeks are now concluded on-site at NLE, as we reach the end of month two. Phase one is certainly coming along nicely.

Weekly overview

Given where we’re up to with regards to the full build timeline, we continue to predominantly push ahead with supporting works on-site, with the main envelope set for installation in early July.

We’re also still very hard at work behind the scenes, pulling together all final adjustments to the many plans and schematics that make up the entire project. This will of course continue throughout the project, however with many of the larger components of the construction phase now at a critical ‘bake-in’ point, this is of keen importance at the moment.

In terms of visible changes on-site, focus has been on the storage mezzanine and racking in the loading bay / warehouse, closing stage works in the NOC, and the NOC kitchenette. Alongside this, there have also been further integrations on security and core systems.

We’re very happy with the continued progress at NLE. While we are naturally most excited for the heavy works to begin, which is where the ‘data centre’ elements will really begin to show, we’re still very glad to see such fantastic progress this early on.

What’s else has been happening?

Our new core POP in CLL is now almost completely deployed. All Layer 1 links for this location are now connected, with the final onlining of our routing layer to complete next week.

We’ve also nearly completed our large deployment in Frankfurt, with most carriers now online, servicing the nodes installed for use there. This has been a large and complex project, so our team will be very happy to see this reach total completion.

What’s next?

We will continue to push ahead with the final stages of preliminary works, ahead of the main envelope installation now scheduled for July. The next 3 to 4 weeks will provide an excellent on-ramp to this next phase, as various smaller tasks reach completion.

Focus over the last two weeks has generally centred around finalising any preparation works ahead of the main envelope installation. This is now booked in following a number of final on-site meetings in week six, which saw the last survey completed, with production on the steel work now underway.

Weekly overview

The main areas of change seen since the last update have centred around the installation of our warehouse-side storage mezzanine, our NOC kitchenette, along with various smaller tasks and behind the scenes work to enable heavy construction to begin in the coming weeks.

Our warehouse mezzanine will enable far more effective use of our on-site loading bay area, providing masses of secure storage for spares and client deliveries. We make great use of the loading bay area at London Central, which is something we will be carrying through to all future Netwise facilities.

The new kitchenette is situated at the entrance to the office / NOC, provided for our on-site engineers, and anyone else working at this site during normal operation. We’ve already decked out this new space with another top-spec Jura coffee machine to match NLC – something our current engineering team very much enjoy! This will be the first of two new kitchenette areas installed at NLE, the second of which will be found inside the large customer break-out area.

The NOC itself has also seen some minor evolution, with the first row of engineer desks now sited in their final position, including all workstation hardware, and some colour-matched upstands to protect our new grey NOC screen wall.

As you can see, updates are still very much focused on pre-technical. We’re hoping to have some more technically-focused updates for you in the coming weeks, which are naturally of most interest to our readers.

Within the next two to four weeks, we’re hoping to have fully completed all pre-technical works, which will enable the main envelope to be installed, while our engineers continue with supplementary operations. Beyond this, we will begin populating spaces with the main technical components, which is where the real fun begins!

What’s else has been happening?

Aside from business as usual, helping various new and existing clients with deployments and expansion inside our facilities, we’ve also been hard at work on other specialist projects.

Our large deployment in Frankfurt completes this month, along with a specialist deployment in Kuwait. We’re very excited to bring these locations online, following a long deployment schedule due to the current state of play.

We’ll also be rolling out our new core POP in CLL this quarter, adding to our ever-growing metro network. This will be another exciting milestone, with a range of clients already lined up to co-POP this space with us.

Our new van is also here, but we’re keeping that one close to our chest for now – it’s going to look rather special once all additions have been fitted!

What’s next?

The next couple of weeks are going to provide ample time to complete any outstanding tasks ahead of the main mezzanine and associated envelope installation. These include small tasks, such as additional security integrations and work inside the NOC, along with larger tasks like the perimeter compound fencing and turnstile.

We certainly have another transformative few weeks ahead of us!

As the end of the first month rolls around, we’ve seen further developments in the front-side of the building as we finalise the office, NOC and on-site meeting room.

We’re now also very close to beginning works on the main envelope, including the mezzanine, internal walls and doors, raised floors and hung ceilings.

Weekly overview

This week has seen the NOC space really take shape, adding in some of the final touches that tie-in with the visual language found at London Central. This includes the signature grey NOC screen wall, that has been carefully colour-matched to the doors within the facility.

Matching internal NOC signage has also been installed this week, with our main brand and associated focus lighting to follow soon.

We’ve now taken delivery of our goods lift, which will sit centrally in the main space of the building, and provide easy access to the first-floor data halls with any large, heavy equipment. This method of access will stand alongside standard stair access, as well as forklift access for the movement of any large materials; vital for successfully deploying a modular fit-out.

Excitingly, we’ve also taken delivery of our new forklift! This is the second forklift we’ve owned in our build project history, the first helping us through the London Central build before being sold on. This one will be staying with us as part of the split-level warehousing and loading bay integrated into the NLE design.

While we’re still acutely aware of how early into the project we are at this stage, we’re nevertheless incredibly pleased with how quickly the space has become identifiable as a Netwise facility.

As with the last instalment of the Build Blog, while we await the full commencement of the internal envelope for the data halls, we’re primarily progressing with front-of-house works, and behind the scenes planning for the rest of the project.

Aside to what’s been snapped above, we’ve also been undertaking early preparation works for the installation of our lift.

There’s also been considerable activity on the network side of things. NLE has now been fully deployed on our metro network, utilising the initial 10Gbps link which will take us through to commissioning. We’ve deployed a high-availability Cisco stack on-site to handle all internal operations, and link back to our core Supernode in Telehouse North.

What’s next?

The next couple of weeks will see progress across a number of key areas, while the envelope is finalised, allowing heavy works to begin very soon.

Further security system integration will be happening next week, along with the roll out of our new compound fencing. We’ll also begin work on the lift shaft, to be in place prior to the main envelope enclosing it in due course.