Further impressive progress to report on finalising the envelope this time around, as we prepare for the final stages of this phase, taking us to the end of our first six months on-site at NLE.
Weekly overview
Week 26 marks exactly half a year on-site at London East. This is quite the milestone, and while we did encounter several minor delays at the beginning of the project (thanks to the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic), we’re enormously proud of what’s been achieved in that time.
Much of the first seven or eight weeks were spent undertaking small-scale works in the office to prepare it for housing our management team when on-site at NLE. So realistically, it’s fairer to say that the broader strokes of the project have only been in effect for four solid months, which makes progress – in our eyes at least – all the more impressive.
We’ve had the envelope trades on-site over the past two weeks to continue progress, taking things to the point of readiness for our raised access floors to be installed. The materials for this phase have begun to land with us from our manufacturers in South Africa, the first container of which is seen arriving below.
Our new office power distribution is now in place, segregating the NOC and office power systems from the main facilityAs a result of the office distribution board being installed, we’ve also been able to power up our new NOC logo spot lights for the first timeThe first raised access floor materials container arriving for unloading at NLEThis first container holds around half of the required flooring material, which will total well over 30 tonnesSome of the tile stacks standing in the warehouse entrance ahead of distribution throughout the buildingMore floor tiles awaiting distribution inside the facility, waiting for action in our compoundA look at progress on the main envelope structure – this shows the temporary door openings for goods access to both the ground and first floorsA look at what will become the entrance way to the technical spaces at NLEThe view from the warehouse / loading bay into the ground floor access corridors, with the entrance to one of the main LV rooms on the leftA look down the main ground floor access corridor with the ceiling grid now in place, along with test placement lights and tilesThe view inside Data Hall 3, with the completed grid, as seen from what will be the cold corridorThe view from the doorway of Data Hall 4, looking towards the inter-floor access atriumA shot from inside the second LV room, looking out towards the stairs and lift shaft, with one of our main service risers shown on the rightA look inside the customer lounge and build room, which shows the topside of the service riser as seen aboveA skyward view of the double-height atrium as seen from the half landing on our custom staircase, ahead of ceiling installationThe top landing of the access atrium, with the partially installed lift mechanism in place on the left hand sideA view from the doorway of Data Hall 2, with the resin floor coating now down to protect the top surface, which will be underneath our raised access floorAnother view of the floor now sealed, showing the access door that will lead into the first floor cold corridor at the rear of each hallThe cold corridor will also have a vinyl tank installed, which will be in place to provide added protection where our new cooling system lives (as also seen at NLC)A view out to the warehouse / loading bay, from the first floor access corridor, which will be the main lifting point for materials and incoming client hardware destined for the first floorThe view from underneath our storage mezzanine, looking towards the roller shutter and newly installed wall behind the fork lift, with our on-site workshop area just visible to the leftThe ceiling coming together in the main access atriumThe lift shaft progressed further this time around, with the shaft walls reaching the first floor, and the lifting gear / platform test fittedA look at the composite ceiling as installed in the cold corridor in Data Hall 3, which will form part of the hot air extraction plenumThe first full placement of our evaporative cooling plant plinths in Data Hall 2, which will hold the CREC units in this hall when fitted out – these will sit under the raise floorA closer look at the plinths in place in Data Hall 2This side of the custom built plinths will sit inside the cold corridor, and have an access hatch / door for the quick replacement of bag filters without need to lift floor tiles in the data hallThe front side of the plinths show the apertures for pushing cold air into the underfloor void, and will also house the bag filters for each cooler; the integral leak detection equipment in each plinth can be seen in blackAs at NLC, we are also installing a supplementary CRAC system in each data hall, with the custom adjustable plinths for these units seen on the opposite side of the room
As you can see, we’re now tantalisingly close to having our completed internal shell handed over to us. We just have the raised access flooring left to go at this point, along with the doors and some final checkerplate wall protection that will follow later down the line.
Having the shell completed will allow for the next phase of the project to begin, that being containment and electrical. While this is underway, we will also be orchestrating the installation of our evaporative cooling system into Data Hall 1.
One of the most exciting points of the project we’ve reached so far is the placement of our first machine plinths, which will hold our cooling system; both the primary evaporative and secondary / supplementary air conditioning units. These are the first pieces of equipment to be placed in their final positions on-site, and while we’re still a fair way off seeing any actual air be pushed through them to live client equipment, we’re very happy to see them sat in place none-the-less!
What’s next?
Next up, the raised access floor will be installed. This will bring the internal shell to a point of completion that allows for the next major phase of the project to begin.
We’ll also be undertaking another deep clean of the facility at this point, to ensure the site is ready for the less invasive, non-construction type works to push ahead inside properly prepared clean spaces.
