A slightly later-than-planned update to the build blog this time around, thanks to time spent on more critical development works, as we head into a period of extended activity on-site at NLE.
The last four weeks have seen excellent progress across a varied range of areas, bringing a number of outstanding side-projects to a close, and solid advancements made on some of the remaining primary tasks.
Weekly overview
We’ll be keeping the update this week brief, so as to retain focus on real-world progress, however this post will serve as a general visual update to our readers, showing advancements across the various areas which have seen the most apparent change.
The most keen focus has been spent on the cooling system, in terms of the handling of air in and out of the building.
Beyond the visible updates as presented above, we’ve also been able to continue with underlying developmental plans for the remaining work phase, including aspects of power and connectivity.
Our fire contractors are now close to completion, which will be another major system milestone checked off very soon, as we march towards client deployment readiness.
What else has been happening?
It’s been a bumper start to Q2 here at Netwise, as we help a wide range of new and existing clients grow and deploy in our London Central facility. We’ve also started showing new prospects around London East as it moves nearer to completion, with a range of racks in the first pod now allocated to incoming clients.
We’re also close to pushing out a press release announcing our first major on-site carrier, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.
What’s next?
Works are continuing on power, fire and connectivity. These are the main focus as we move towards the summer months, and to our forthcoming launch – watch this space for updates on when our first on-site events will be held.
Things are really heating up now in terms of progress on-site at NLE, as we document another three weeks of work at our forthcoming data centre.
We’re almost at the one year mark in terms of when we first gained access to the new building, and despite some setbacks early on due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been extremely pleased with how quickly we’ve transformed the site from shell to data centre.
We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting ever closer!
Weekly overview
The last three weeks have seen tremendous progress across a wide range of project areas. The most notable changes have centred around the physical adjustments to the rear of the facility, as the first set of louvred intake panels are cut into the exterior walls for Data Hall 1.
As we hope is self-evident, the visual and functional change on-site has been noteworthy, to say the least.
Big advances have been made in containment, which helps move the project along in many areas. Our fire contractors are now able to bring all systems together, and complete the VESDA and extinguishant panel integrations with the main building system.
Having Pod 1 reach point of completion from an assembly perspective is also a major project milestone, and gives a tangible focus point for any tours of the site ahead of it opening.
What’s next?
Next week we will reach 12 months on-site at NLE, although due to COVID-19 restrictions early on, we’re probably more like 9 months of true work into the project.
The next set of louvres will be installed in the next week or so, along with further works on various open projects. This all falls alongside larger project work, which will see broader stroke progress as the build continues towards full onlining in the next few months.
We have another two weeks in the books on-site at London East, as things continue to develop as we head towards energisation.
The last couple of weeks have seen a good amount of change across a number of areas, including dramatic visual changes in Data Hall 1, and to the generator canopies.
Weekly overview
The containment system in Data Hall 1 has now been partially assembled, scheduled for completion next week. Most importantly, the two pod entry / exit doors have been installed, and had their electric opening and closing mechanisms setup.
The containment pods are extremely impressive in person, and will provide a dominant focal point for the first hall. The contact-free entry system, which makes use of a proximity sensor, is particularly impressive to see and use.
The walls – as seen above – have begun to see more tech installed upon them, in the form of various panel boards for various systems. These will have their feeds installed as the main electrical works are underway. In particular, the newest generation VESDA-E panels are very striking, and work much better with the colour pallet at East (compared to their previous generation white / white and green panels). It’s the little details that we really love, and which come together in making a truly beautiful facility.
We think that the refinished generator canopies are a real show-stopper. These sit in a rather dominant position in the front compound, and as such we wanted to ensure they remained in-keeping with the visual language of the site. They’ll be having their ID and branding vinyls applied soon, which again will add to their commanding presence.
The adjustments to the skin of the building are scheduled to begin in the coming two to three weeks, in line with the commissioning of the water supply and drainage to the evaporative coolers, which began this week.
What’s next?
The open set of works as seen above will be brought to a close, as the main electrical contractors begin. Works will continue across the board, most intently focusing on cooling and fire system works, which are now underway throughout the building.
We’re extremely excited to introduce you to the latest member of our ever-growing team. Meet Ralph Wall, our new Sales Manager.
Ralph has enjoyed a long and successful career in the data centre industry, heading up the sales function at a number of very notable organisations within the sector over the years. His wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts are second-to-none, and will be a much-welcomed addition to the in-house skill set at Netwise.
The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic delayed the official announcement of Ralph’s joining, having actually started with us back in mid-January. We’re now very pleased to be able to fully announce Ralph’s new position with us, and we’re looking forward to seeing the improvements he will bring to the table as we enter another new phase in our development cycle.
It’s no secret that Ralph’s addition to the team comes at a time of major growth and investment for Netwise, with the forthcoming launch of our brand new London East data centre later this year. He will be overseeing the growth and development side of the business as we launch London East, and continue to welcome new clients (and service existing client growth) at London Central.
This new level of representation couldn’t have come at a better time for us, as we enter the end-out phase of construction on what will be our biggest and highest specification data centre to date; the third in our build history. Hard hat tours of the new site will begin shortly, and will be orchestrated by Ralph and the engineering team at Netwise. You can check out our Build Blog here to keep tabs on progress.
You can expect to meet Ralph at our forthcoming launch event(s) later this year, and at all of our social events, once they’re allowed to resume without restriction, of course.
We can’t wait for you to meet Ralph, and he’s certainly excited to meet you too. Get in touch if you’re interested in speaking, or to organise a tour of our facilities.
We’ve enjoyed an exciting fortnight of changes at NLE for this instalment of the Build Blog, with a large number of big ticket items landing on-site.
This has resulted in notable change throughout the facility over the past two weeks, across a number of key areas. The most striking of these has been the siting of our new generators, which now sit in their final positions in our front compound.
Weekly overview
Alongside the generators arriving – which are having a full canopy refinish in anthracite grey next week – we’ve also taken delivery of our first containment pod, including racks and the cold aisle system. This has resulted in major visual change in Data Hall 1.
We have a time lapse of the generators arriving and landing in place coming very soon, so watch out for this on our socials.
The first containment pod can now be assembled in Data Hall 1, which will be another major milestone in the deployment of our new facility.
The installation of our exterior building sign was quite a momentous occasion, as it’s the first time this facility has been properly branded with our logomark. This is the exact same style of sign as seen on the side of our London Central facility, with the diffused backlighting that really makes the sign pop at night.
The first instalment of armoured cabling to arrive, which will make up the bulk of the main underfloor power routes, will total somewhere in the region of eleven tons. The fire cabling within the building, which covers all detection and alarm systems, will total 2.5km in length.
We’ve had lots of custom made parts arrive over the past few weeks, destined for installation and / or use throughout the facility. One such item is a custom fork lift plate, which has been designed to take racks from the loading bay up to either floor level. This is a heavy duty steel plate welded to fork sleeves, which is low profile enough to drop straight into each loading dock.
What’s next?
The on-site schedule really picks up in the next week or two, as things begin to move on the end-out works. The site has a large number of trades beginning work, including the fire team, generator canopy refresh team, lift engineers, and a team who will be heading up adjustments to the skin of the building as part of our cooling system(s). This is all happening alongside the main power contractors beginning work, following completion of all design and design testing.