Update three of the London East expansion project shows great progress on the envelope works, during which time we’ve seen the two spaces breached to become one single building – an early but poignant milestone for the project.
The various doorways have also been rough-cut into position ahead of final finish cuts – and being raised to finished floor height – allowing the real-world flow of the space to be experienced for the first time.
Here are the photo updates:
The wall panels which form the main first floor corridor make for an imposingly tall space at this stage, ahead of the raised floor and ceiling installation in due courseThe main corridor on the ground floor sits directly below that of the first floorThe second corridor on the ground floor leads to the power servicing rooms, sitting perpendicular to the main corridor run, with some doorways now rough-cut in here (to slab, for access)The shell of Data Hall 6 on the ground floor is an ideal place for the storage of materials, prior to useAnother view across Data Hall 6, looking towards the main entrance of the hall – this leads into the main access corridor, and through onto the loading bay, which is just visible hereThe doorways have been rough-cut to enable access at slab and deck level, ahead of final cuts and installation at their finished heights (accounting for the raised access flooring)The main first floor corridor connects the expansion to the current live footprint, providing access to the new data halls, as well as onward access to the amenities within the new spaceHere we see the installation of the walls which will form part of the cold corridor area within Data Hall 5, as trim finishes also begin to see installationThe area to the side of Data Hall 5 will be home to new offices and a high specification meeting room – the far end wall visible here, at the end of the first floor corridor, will be the breach point location for this floor, connecting into the live side of the facilityThere will be another corridor positioned here for access to the three rooms on this end of the building, however as this will be entirely glazed, this will be installed further into the projectHere we see the two ground floor corridors as captured from their intersection point – this location is also home to another breach, into the ground floor of the front-of-house areaThis view of Data Hall 5 shows the initial shell close to completion, ahead of doors, floors and ceilings – some of this will follow later, as there will be a significant round of containment works due ahead of thenData sheets have been placed around the facility to aid in the installation of the door sets, as well as the datum lines for finished floor heights and checker platingThe back end of the ground floor is home to the new UPS and power distribution rooms, as well as the new service corridors for cable route managementOne of the next modifications to the new wall structure will be the cutting of any required cable penetrations between rooms and floors
We can now look at the breach works, which were definitely a significant milestone on-site:
The hoarding installed within the ground and first floor corridors (within the active side of the facility) have since been over-clad with more attractive covers – these serve as dust penetration protection, and can act as temporary routes into the new space during the buildHere we see the breach of the ground floor, which sits behind the hoarding visible on each floor of the active facility – all cuts at this stage are ‘roughed in’, ahead of final cutting and flashing, and of course the installation of double doorsHere’s a view of the first floor breach underway – the building steels require modification here, which involves the installation of a fully custom steel frame insertThe horizontal building steel seen here, which forms part of the fabric of the building, will be cut away, with a full replacement steel frame to be installed in its placeA view of the first floor breach, as seen from the new office area, with the entrance to Data Hall 5 on the left, and the first floor loading access door on the rightThere will be a full timelapse of the entire envelope installation – from empty space to finished shell – coming later in the projectWhile slightly obstructed from view here, the new end-to-end corridor runs, following the breach works, are certainly impressiveHere we can see the new steel reinforcement frame in place, as seen from the ground floor breach location – the finished raised floor and ceiling, along with the checker plate, is visible on the other side of the breachThe new steel frame sits within a very tight space – between the two mezzanine structures on each side of the facility – and uses a combination of bolted fixings and welding to marry into the buildingThe top of the new frame can be seen here on the first floor, along with the various required repairs to the block wall, now that the installation access requirements are complete – this will all be hidden behind new wall panels and flashingsThis is the view from the existing ground floor corridor, through the temporary hoarding, into the new ground floor corridorThe view is quite impressive, and gives an idea of the forthcoming scale of the expanded siteThere are two further block wall breaches within the build schedule – this is the third, which connects the ground floor corridors to the reception area, and additional office spaceThe other side of this third breach shows the door installation underway, at raised floor height – there will be many further modifications to make to this side to reach completion, including stairs and a ceiling well
Here are some additional shots from around the site:
The side return yard of the new expansion space is large, and will house extended parking, as well as required plant equipment for the new data halls – this will of course be fully enclosed with new perimeter security, to match that of the existing spaceThe window manifestations have been installed on all relevant panels, to match the active side of the facilityThe new reception area on this side of the facility will primarily serve as a staff entrance, with the main entrance for clients remaining on the current side of the siteThe corner profile of the new expansion shows the full-wrap access that this side of the facility is affordedAll of the ground floor window manifestations are installed, including black-out manifestations on windows covered by new internal walls towards the rear half of the space – some of the comfort cooling and fresh air system equipment can be seen here
As expected, progress continues at great pace at this stage in the project, in tandem with Phase 2 works on the active side of the facility (more to come on that soon).
