Zutari has completed the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) upgrade for Africa Data Centres’ 6MW capacity expansion at its Cape Town 1 (CPT1) facility.
The fast-track project was a brownfield site with existing structures.
“We had to work around the existing live facility,” says Stan Rudman, technical director: mechanical engineering at Zutari. “We used 3D modelling and had to explore the use of existing underground tunnels, to aid in drainage under the existing building.
“These tunnels were evaluated for reticulation of electrical cables and drainage. It was a live facility, so there were many procedures we had to follow,” he adds. “We also completed the first fan wall cooling unit installation, which was a first for the client.”
Looking at some current trends in data centre design, Rudman points to higher temperatures, lower water usage, increased load density, and future fit-out for liquid cooling technologies. These are all aimed at improving efficiency, he says.
The latest expansion at Africa Data Centres has added 1 000 racks of white space available for customers to lease. The expansion added three halls and another 6MW of critical IT load, effectively doubling the facility’s capacity. It included two colocation halls and a hyperscale hall built using a cutting-edge modular design for rapid scalability.