Mission Critical Data Centers
Think What’s Possible
Page is a powerfully imaginative and collaborative architecture and engineering firm: one that’s ready for today and designed for what comes next. We pair form with function, reason with emotion, and ideas with expert implementation. At Page, the potential of what’s possible is paired with the practicality of how to make it happen. Our purpose is designing places smarter, while improving the experiences of those who work, live, and learn in them. From thought to finish, Page experts—of all disciplines—see the big picture, figure the best way forward, and deliver solutions in inventive and amazing ways. Imagine that.
Visit our website at pagethink.com
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport IT Building / Austin, Texas
We start with your vision. We design for the future.
Civic / Community / Culture
Commercial / Mixed-Use
Government
Healthcare
Mission Critical
Science / Technology
Design is the crux of what we do. Throughout the generations, Page has promised, and delivered, design that makes lives better. We believe buildings are important for what they do and for the positive impact they make on individual lives.
That’s why we have a solution-driven project focus that results in life-enhancing buildings and places. Our multidisciplinary services allow complete integration from conceptualization to engineering to interiors and more, resulting in an improved client experience and final product.
We recognize that good talent can be applied to complex projects regardless of industry. And good talent becomes great when it gains experience in a variety of situations. We create crossover teams so that individuals can work on different projects and share their own expertise and insights with other team members. Our collective commitment to visionary design is reflected in our portfolio of successful projects.
Our work spans the globe, from U.S. diplomatic campuses to mission critical facilities in the Middle East to five-star resorts in Africa and beyond. Since Page has multiple offices in the US and affiliates abroad, we have the capability to staff projects onsite as well as set up “follow the sun” workflows to increase efficiency.
While Page is distinguished by our portfolio of successes, we also are distinguished by our full spectrum of architectural and engineering design services. This allows us to provide an integrated “total design” single team approach. Our clients benefit from the highest levels of interdisciplinary coordination, quality control and quick response demanded on today’s cutting-edge projects. Page Serves The Following Core Markets:
This we believe. As agents for positive change, we are driven by the ideals we hold dear. In the delivery of our services, we are guided by three core values:
Creativity
Think curiosity / innovation / imagination / optimism / originality.
Collaboration
Think sharing / community / camaraderie / civility / teamwork.
Commitment
Think integrity / respect / giving / discipline / rigor.
ARCHITECTURE
Page is known for their well-researched program-driven solutions aided by integrated multidisciplinary expertise and a strategic mindset. We bring global thinking and experience to bear on projects that build communities. Our portfolio reflects a commitment to visionary design, a record of innovation and fresh ideas and most importantly, demonstrated success with complex projects.
We develop a uniquely created design for every project that reflects the building type, client, need and location. We take pride in knowing that a Page project is one of the best possible solutions to the needs of its multiple stakeholders from owner to operator to neighbor.
ENGINEERING
Our in-house engineering experts lead development of the latest industry design codes and standards. Page engineers contribute to progress in safety, wellness, sustainability, energy and carbon neutrality, and increase our impact by working across disciplines. We use a combination of custom tools and Building Information Technology solutions to visualize and communicate how occupants and operations interface with complex integrated building and process systems. Adoption of advances in renewable energy, microgrids, Internet of Things and high-performance systems demonstrate our commitment to socially responsible design. Our multidisciplinary mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and process engineering practice areas work collaboratively with design and construction partners to bring your concepts to reality.
LEED silver
INTERIORS
Page believes that well-designed interiors can be a critical force. They help clients accomplish their mission, and improve the quality of people’s lives. Just like our interiors in our own offices, our clients’ interiors serve as positive, consistent visual reinforcements of their own cultural identity.
By combining the skills of our interior designers with those of our architects, planners, engineers, and visualization specialists, we offer our clients a range and quality of single point responsibility found in few other places. Our interiors services range from programming, space-planning and officing studies to the selection of furnishings, finishes and artwork.
PLANNING / URBAN DESIGN
We help our clients evolve, grow, and prosper because our process is informed by research, cutting-edge technology tools, and an appreciation for the unique culture of the people, organizations, and places we serve. Our interdisciplinary team of planners, urban designers, architects, landscape architects, and programmers are dedicated to supporting the ongoing evolution of our urban areas, encouraging appropriate development and redevelopment suited to the particular conditions of each site we aim to transform. Through urban districts, institutional campuses, innovation districts, long range development plans, master plans, streetscapes and transit-oriented communities, our teams integrate the building blocks of community, sustainability, and resilience into innovative solutions.
LAB PLANNING / DESIGN
Page specializes in challenging projects for demanding clients throughout the globe. Laboratory facilities are among the most intricate and complex projects.
The unique challenges posed by highly toxic petrochemical corrosion labs, sterile environments for pharmaceutical manufacturing, biohazard high-containment suites, precise environmental control of animal laboratories are commonplace obstacles overcome by our dedicated technical team of architects and engineers every day. Page has specialists equipped with a thorough understanding of the safety standards and scientific equipment requirements foundational to the success of all laboratories.
BRANDING & GRAPHICS
Our visual identity and experiential designers create brand identities and graphic designs that support how places and environments are experienced. The orchestration of 2-dimensional design work including typography, color, imagery, form, technology and, especially, content, forms this basis. Examples of this work include wayfinding systems, architectural graphics, signage, exhibit design, retail design, and themed or branded spaces. We operate at the intersection of communications and the built environment. We provide architectural and placemaking visioning, and create overall design vocabularies that help clients hone in on the possibilities, character and nature of a project.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION / MODERNIZATION
Page’s historic preservation and modernization service begins by asking the question: “What can be done to help this building perform at its highest level?”.
Our integrated modernization approach unlocks the potential of existing buildings. Furthermore, historic preservation and modernization adapts spaces to support changes in the industry in buildings such as Courthouses, Historic Buildings, Hospitals, Government Buildings, and National Park Facilities, making them more efficient and sustainable, all while respecting the building’s history.
STRATEGIES / ANALYTICS
Sometimes before the nature or need for a facility or real estate project is understood at all, our Page strategies and analytics team creatively applies a broad array of tools, techniques, and processes to help our clients think first- and think better.
Our team is a group of dedicated specialists who tailor proven techniques including facilitation, research, rigorous analysis and interactive data visualization to address specific client and project needs. The common thread is the application of objective information and proprietary digital tools to help clients make informed decisions while building consensus among stakeholders. Specific services include program generation and verification, facility assessment, space utilization and needs analysis, community engagement, system planning/modeling, space reallocation/migration strategy, visioning, environmental scanning,and comparative analysis.
When supporting architecture and engineering projects, our experience throughout design, construction and move-in proves that thoroughly exploring and clearly communicating the consensus project definition prior to design positions our team to develop optimal solutions at the greatest value to projects at every scale.
BUILDING SCIENCES
Page approaches sustainable design through the interdisciplinary lens of building sciences to create higher performing, healthier, more resilient buildings. As one of the first signatories of AIA 2030 Commitment, we are invested in leading the industry towards carbonneutral buildings and advocating for resilient solutions to help our clients prepare for the future.
We believe that intention requires rigor and through our data driven and integrative process, we collaborate early and often to ensure designs are informed by our building performance analysis. With experience across a wide range of environmental certification systems, our multidisciplinary team is well qualified to provide a holistic and comprehensive approach to sustainable design.
We believe all buildings can be high performing & positive community contributors.
COMMISSIONING
Page recognizes the level of investment and importance of facilities that function as designed from the day they open. Our commissioning service provides a level of confidence to owners and operators as well as minimizes costly construction rework. This is accomplished through a collaborative process that includes the building owner, design professionals, and the general contractor under the guiding hand of the Commissioning Authority. As a Certified Commissioning Firm, we adhere to exacting, providing our clients support construction quality. We perform testing, adjusting, and balancing in accordance with NEBB standards. As an independent testing firm, we have no affiliation with general or installation contractors.
PROCESS ENGINEERING
Page process engineers work with industrial and high technology clients to develop industrial and chemical processes to support their manufacturing needs. Through our work with advanced manufacturing clients, we have an acute sensitivity to the need for precision, accuracy, and compliance with each client’s unique production needs. We work collaboratively with clients using a comprehensive programming process to understand their manufacturing flow and process requirements and design systems that ensure safety and manufacturing standards are met or exceeded. Our team utilizes industry standard process flow diagrams, threedimensional modeling software, and instrument specifications to determine the needed infrastructure for successful facility and process design and equipment installation.
Data Centers
Data Center AE Firm
Building Design + Construction, 2023
Page’s experience in Mission Critical Facilities extends across all of our market sectors and includes a wide range of project types from several of the world’s largest microelectronics facilities to state-ofthe-art academic research laboratories and healthcare facilities; to data centers for private, corporate, and public entities. This exposure to how different industries address similar problems provides our team with a broad planning perspective and a more open-minded and innovative approach than single-focus firms that specialize only in a limited number of building types.
Page is one of the nation’s most respected data center designers, and our portfolio includes mission critical projects for some of the nation’s most recognizable names. Many of our projects involve cutting-edge technologies such as liquid immersion cooling, Microgrids, Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) shielded facilities. Our recent experience includes numerous data center and control room projects for various clients, including cloud providers, colocation facility providers, the Federal Government, the Department of Defense, the Army Corps of Engineers, the State Department, financial institutions, and energy providers. We are experienced in many data center typology designs, from facility assessments and enhancements to hyper-scale campuses to modular designs.
Our mission critical professionals bring sophisticated skills and certifications unique to these project types. We stay abreast of market trends that require knowledge and skills far beyond building codes and local standards to ensure our clients receive the benefits they expect.
John D. Major, aia Mission Critical Market Sector Leader jmajor@pagethink.com
Freddy Padilla, pe, atd Director of Engineering fpadilla@pagethink.com
Elizabeth Slyziuk, pe, atd MEP Engingeering Director eslyziuk@pagethink.com
Cameron Brown, pe, atd Engineering Director cbrown@pagethink.com
Rob Courson, pe, aia, leed ap Director of Engineering rcourson@pagethink.com
$5.25B+ Construction Value of Data Centers Designed in the last 10 Years
70 Data Centers Designed in the last 8 Years
2017 Data Center Design Team of the Year This award by Datacenter Dynamics for RagingWire (NTT Communications) Data Center
Confidential Client D4M Data Center / Iowa
Quarry Run Regional Operations Center / San Antonio, Texas
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport IT Building / Austin, Texas
United Airlines Tier IV Data Center / Confidential Location, U.S.
Data Center Experience
Page has built its reputation and practice throughout the world on the proven ability to manage, design and execute large, complex building projects involving leading edge technology, mission critical operations and multi-headed client and user groups. By keeping abreast of changing technology and infrastructure requirements, our design team creates facilities that not only conform to site configurations and owner specifications, but aid in efficiency of operation and anticipate future growth through flexible design. Page has a vast range of experience in mission critical facilities over the past 20+ years. This experience transcends a variety of federal government, Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, State Department, financial sector and energy service provider clients. In the last 10 years alone, we have designed over 70 data center projects valued at over $5.25B ranging from Uptime Institute Tier II – Tier IV designs.
Leaders of Sustainable Design
LEED and Green Building designs continue to be a focus of the data center markets and maximizing energy efficiency is a key goal in the development of data center design. At Page, we have a strong sense of creating cost-effective engineering solutions that maximize energy efficiency and still maintain reliability for our clients.
Innovative Technology
Page is a recognized expert in developing and applying new and innovative technologies in the mission critical world. We frequently work with equipment manufacturers and owners to develop new and innovative solutions to the challenges of mission critical projects.
Liquid Immersion Cooling
The practice of submerging servers or other electronic equipment in a thermally, but not electrically, conductive liquid is known as Liquid Immersion Cooling. The utility of this cooling system for mission critical facilities is that it provides better utilization and efficiency of the supporting mechanical and electrical equipment. This method removes the need for PDUs, RPPs, Busway, or CRAH/CRAC in data center spaces. Ultimately this cooling system allows the end user to reduce equipment counts without sacrificing redundancy.
Microgrids
Microgrids are a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that act as a single controllable entity with respect to the energy grid. They can be switched on and off and provide an opportunity to reduce energy costs, improve resilience from utility outages, reduce carbon footprint, and improve the overall reliability of the facilities. Microgrids can provide mission critical facilities the ability to run on an independent grid, supplied by alternative power sources such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP), Solar Photovoltaic (PV), and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF)
Through our work on 80+ embassies projects, all containing SCIF facilities, and numerous federal clients, we are well-acquainted with all the latest codes standards and stay abreast of all design requirements set forth by the Intelligence Community in Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 705, ensuring thorough design and execution of SCIF facilities. In addition, we are familiar with common TEMPEST countermeasures required in SCIF facility design. Our highly experienced and qualified SCIF experts on staff have years of experience managing, inspecting, and verifying SCIF compliant construction and maintaining high security facilities. Our engineering team is knowledgeable about the technical specifics of SCIF design and construction, and sensitive to the need for confidentiality with SCIF designs.
EMP Shielded Facilities
EMP Shielded Facilities are buildings or spaces designed to minimize damage to electronic equipment from high-energy electromagnetic pulses (EMP). Examples of structures needing this special shielding include a range of mission critical buildings such as emergency operations facilities, control buildings, and data centers associated with critical infrastructure. The type of protection required and the equipment or construction used are determined by circumstances and types of electromagnetic threats a particular facility is expected to face. Page works with clients to develop custom solutions to facility shielding needs.
Project Details
Project Size
5 Buildings
201,000 Square Feet Each
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering / Interiors / Programming / Construction Administration
2017 Data Center Design Team of the Year
This award by Datacenter Dynamics recognized the architects, engineers, and contractors that developed an innovative approach to a data center design and led the project to a successful outcome.
Finalist - Most Beautiful Data Center in the World
Data Center Dynamics recognizes data center design teams who create innovative and design-forward data centers around the world.
RagingWire (NTT Communications) Data Center Garland, Texas
RagingWire is a subsidiary of an international telecommunications giant that commissioned the technologically advanced mega-scale 1,000,000-square-foot data center as part of a global project to achieve a network of comparable world-class, cost-efficient centers. The master plan included five buildings at 16 MW IT load each for a total 80MW IT load. Each data center was designed to be developed and built in phases allowing for expansion to be constructed with minimal interruption to prior phases. The first building phase included the first 16 MW and an integrated two-story office. Each 16 MW white space consists of approximately 126,000 square feet of raised floor area subdivided into 1MW vaults within a roughly 201,000-square-foot total data center building shell.
The more public-facing office allowed the team to integrate not only workplace strategy but also the company’s identity into the design. The two-story, 40,000 square-foot glass and steel frame structure houses offices for both RagingWire Data Center operations and client use. Visitors enter through the vault of the secure space into the open lobby, which is a soaring space flooded with natural light from above. A cylindrical volume of yellow fritted glass clads the elevator and is the centerpiece of the room. The delicate custom light fixture hanging from the ceiling and details throughout the office space reinforce the idea of a cloud. Amenities such a community conference room, a lounge, break room, fitness center, and hotel-like rooms all represent workplace strategies expected in today’s tech industry. The design easily weaves a series of private and semi-public spaces of varying size and accessible by controlled levels of security enhancing the identity of the company and its mission.
Project Details
Project Size
80,527 Square Feet
Services Provided Architecture / Interiors / MEP Engineering / Fire Protection Engineering / Project Management
Quarry Run Regional Operations Center Southwest Region,
US
By blurring the lines between inside and out while maintaining a hardened core capable of withstanding natural and manmade disasters, the Quarry Run Regional Operations Center is unique among first-responders facilities in the United States. It supports the county sheriff, municipal police and fire departments as well as surrounding counties with emergency operations, a public safety answering point (PSAP) and administrative functions. These services are provided through two data centers and a 13,878-square-foot PSAP operations floor with 100 consoles.
The building takes advantage of the natural plinth provided by the site and is characterized by stacked, low horizontal volumes. The architecture integrates the mission critical and non-hardened spaces with a purposeful floor plan, which addresses occupant wellness without compromising security. Material continuity from the exterior to the interior and the building’s optimal orientation define its singular expression, and floor plans are organized to encourage users to transverse boundaries.
The facility is essentially two fully integrated, yet distinct structures. The hardened area meets superior mission critical demands with construction intended to withstand level three Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF) wind and ballistic impacts. The building is designed to Tier III standards, with 2N redundancy. It can operate without any public utilities for an extended period of time while the non-hardened area is designed with best-in-class corporate workplace strategy.
Project Details
Project Size
180,000 Square Feet Including 25,000 Square Feet of Raised Floor (Expandable to 50,000 Square Feet)
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering
2015 Brill Award Winner
Global Leadership: Each year, Uptime Institute elevates certain applications out of the individual entry categories to honor with a Global Leadership Award. The winners of the Leadership Award category span multiple disciplines or regions. The Global Leadership award is given to organizations whose Brill Awards submissions demonstrate excellence across multiple disciplines or regions.
United Airlines Tier IV Data Center Confidential Location
The continued growth of Fortune 100 Company’s business resulted in the need for additional data center capacity. Page was selected to provide design services for the new facility, which meets current Uptime Institute’s Tier IV, Concurrently Maintainable/Fault Tolerant standards as well as the client’s requirements. Page worked closely with various corporate departments within United including information technology, corporate real estate and procurement, which leads the development and management of client’s data center infrastructure to support business needs.
Phase 1 of the project includes 25,000 square feet of white space in an 180,000 square foot building. The initial phase includes the client’s backup Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in which they will control their entire worldwide operations in the event that the main OPS Center is down. The EOC contains conference rooms, 50 workstations for various user groups focused on a video wall with a control room overlook for OPS supervision.
The site is protected with K-4 rated fencing, security monitoring, force protection and EF-4 hardening. Phase 1 is a 4 MW IT load for day one fit-up with a 12 MW total facility load at full build-out.
LEED silver
Project Details
Project Size
30,125 Square Feet
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering
Hospital Corporation of America Control Room and Data Center Nashville, Tennessee
The goal of this project was to build and maintain the most flexible and efficient “state of the art” data center for this site. The project is intended to both substantially elevate the overall quality and effectiveness of HCA data center design as well as serve as a project process and documentation model for future HCA critical facility projects. The new data center is located on a tiered 53 acre site. The 90,000-square-foot one-story building is located on the upper tier of the site, with parking located on the lower tier. A two-story entrance vestibule is provided to facilitate access to the building from the lower parking level. Critical building elements and infrastructure are hardened to resist EF-3 tornados and debris impacts. The hardened structure encloses the white space, a control room and critical infrastructure. As the requirements for the office space are less stringent, the office portion of the building structure is not hardened. The project creates 6MW of IT load capacity over 30,000 square feet of white space while providing reliability to Tier III industry standards.
The critical systems design incorporate modern and innovative engineering solutions including: 1) Diesel Rotary Uninterruptable Power Systems, 2) 415 VAC electrical distribution to racks without use of PDUs, 3) Hot Aisle Containments, 4) Water cooled central plant with elevated chilled water temperatures and waterside economizers to maximize free cooling, and 5) Exhaust air energy recovery from battery room ventilation systems. The anticipated annual PUE for the facility is less than 1.4 and a low instantaneous PUE of less than 1.3. The site is masterplanned to accommodate future expansion of 6MW IT load over an additional 30,000 square feet. Future expansion options include an additional similar building.
Project Size
204,514 Square Feet
3 Data Halls Totaling 113,021 Square Feet
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering / Fire Protection / Security / Construction Administration / Commissioning
QTS Data Center Assessment and Upgrades Eemshaven, Netherlands
The facility is located in the Green Data Port Eemshaven, part of the municipality of Eemsmond in the northern Dutch province of Groningen. The existing data hotel contains approximately 204,514 total square feet of floor space, with 113,021 square feet dedicated to white space area. Existing IT capacity is 22.8 MW with a total electric utility capacity at 36 MW.
The project objective was to evaluate the current physical & operational state of the existing Data Hotel Eemshaven and determine the capacity of mechanical and electrical infrastructure that can be utilized by QTS for future lease space. Also included was the evaluation of several different electrical and mechanical systems options for QTS’s evaluation and use in determining the highest and best use of the existing infrastructure. Page partnered with a local consultant, Royal Haskoning DHV, for technical design, permitting, & construction administration services. The overall scope of work includes three distinct projects phases: 1) Assessment/ Recommendations for the existing data center facility, 2) Renovation of the existing data center facility, and 3) Potential expansion of the campus to add a new data center adjacent to the existing data center facility.
Project Details
Project Details
Project Size
450,000 Square Foot Data Center with
100,000 Square Foot Raised Floor
Services Provided
Architecture / MEP Engineering / Interior Design
Confidential Financial Services Client Greenfield Data Center Virginia
This project is a critical component of the client’s Global Data Center Strategy to develop and implement “best-in-class” data centers of varying sizes, topologies and level of critical infrastructure redundancy. This particular data center is intended to substantially elevate the quality and effectiveness of the client’s data center design, plus serve as a project process and documentation model for future critical facility projects. The strategy involves simultaneous design and construction of two multi-phase data centers in two separate locations.
This mission critical facility, which has achieved LEED certification, was developed on a 65-acre site. The master plan accommodates a campus for two data center buildings and support structures with a 2.5-acre electrical transformation yard to support each of the 12 MW IT load, multi-tiered data centers with a Tier IV level of redundancy. Each of the two 470,000-square-foot data center complexes includes a two-story building housing 100,000 square feet of data halls, a +40,000-square foot generator building, water storage yards and a fuel storage yard. Each data center building includes 1MW IT load of containerized data modules with packaged IT equipment at a Tier III level of redundancy. All buildings and structures are designed to withstand an EF-2 tornado and impact rating in order to protect critical equipment and maintain uninterrupted services and operations of the facility. The full project will be constructed and built-up over several phases.
Project Details
Project Size
40,000 Square Feet
Services Provided
Programming / Architecture / Mechanical
Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Plumbing Engineering / Fire Protection
Engineering / Interiors / Project Management
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport IT Building Austin, Texas
The AUS IT Building expansion provides much needed growth and increased reliability for mission critical technology infrastructure required for the airport’s core functions – getting planes in the air and landing them safely and efficiently on the ground. This project provides security enhancements for ensuring continuous operations and mitigating risks to AUS operations, as well as a first-class facility for the AUS IT staff to help attract and retain highly-qualified personnel. The new facility quadruples the size of the existing building from 10,000 SF to over 40,000 SF to accommodate the current demand and anticipated growth for the next 20+ years.
The IT building is the main entry point for external communications to the AUS International Airport campus. As such, this building contains mission critical infrastructure for the entire campus. The facility’s data center is designed to meet Uptime Institute’s Tier III - Concurrently Maintainable standard of data center redundancy. The facility has two Uninterruptible Power Supply systems with five minutes of batter run time and maintenance bypass in an “N+1” configuration and two backup generators that can maintain the building’s total load in the event of a utility failure.
The building is organized to respond to differing levels of protection, splitting the program functions into two separate parts: a very secure “bunker” for the critical communications functions and a more open, daylight office building.
Project Details
Project Size
180,000 Square Feet
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering
Confidential Client Control Building / Data Center Confidential Location
This 180,000-square-foot structure contains a 107,000-squarefoot command-and-control operations center for a large, regional corporation. The remaining 73,000 square feet are utilized for a new corporate data center.
The guiding principle for the design of this facility was to eliminate all single points of failure for mission-critical systems. The supporting infrastructure for both data processing and system control and data acquisition functions is designed using a “concurrently maintainable” model for redundancy, meaning that the design includes the ability to maintain fully redundant infrastructure services during maintenance activities without sacrificing backup system availability during unplanned failures of the primary systems.
The building has layered security from site-to-building, and from noncritical to critical areas within the building. Secure areas utilize biometric readers in addition to more conventional access-control devices. The design also incorporates vehicular barriers at points of entry and crash-resistant site perimeter fencing. Glazing for windows serving sensitive areas is ballistic-resistant.
The building is storm-hardened to protect against hurricanes, flooding and other natural and man-made events and is shielded for protection from electromagnetic events. The structure itself is designed to resist 150-mph winds, but at the same time, blend in aesthetically with the surrounding community as a good neighbor.
Project Details
Project Size
30,125 Square Feet
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin Data Center Conversion
Austin, Texas
The existing two-story, concrete and pre-cast central receiving building was converted into data center space for the University of Texas at Austin. The new Data Center provides a 30,125 SF highly-reliable data center with 9,400 SF of raised floor space that supports maintainability without interruptions of facility infrastructure and reduces the demand for creation of department-specific data centers. This level of functionality is needed to meet the requirements for critical IT services that support the University’s administrative, academic, and research computing.
With existing data centers at their full capacity, the new Data Center provides a large, reliable, highly efficient, and centralized location to reduce the proliferation of small data centers around the University of Texas campus. The new Data Center has full redundancy for power and cooling systems, which eliminates the single points-of-failure in the Data Center facility infrastructure and meets current demand for space, power, and cooling for Information Technology Services (ITS).
The team used BIM to test alternate MEP systems for energy savings. Using a Revit model of the facility, the team found that revamping the cooling system would add about $1.2 million to the budget, but save the client more than $60 million in total cumulative plant costs over the building’s 12 year-life cycle.
The UT Data Center project was completed in two phases. The first phase was Design-Build with DPR Construction. The second phase was Design-Bid-Build with Whiting-Turner.
Project Details
Project Size
350,000 Square Feet with 4 Colocations at 64,000 Square Feet Each
Services Provided Architecture / MEP Engineering / Fire Protection Engineering / Programming / Construction Administration
Confidential Client Enterprise-Level Data Center
Iowa
The continued growth of this client’s business resulted in the immediate need for a new data center facility with a 32 MW nominal critical IT capacity including a full scale administration building to house operations staff and critical environments monitoring. This facility is a prototype to be site adapted simultaneously to multiple sites across the nation. Due to extreme weather conditions and the accelerated construction schedule, Page worked closely with the general contractor to develop a strategy for making the facility weather-tight before the approaching winter months. This close collaboration led to achieving the client’s unprecedented speed-tomarket goal.
The project site was an adaptive re-use of an existing golf course. Site development was hampered by the requirement to protect existing wetlands and mature trees. Page worked with the AHJ’s to master plan the site to optimize the phased development with the least impact to the sensitive environmental conditions. The data center has phased deployment with initial capacity of 32 MW with a master plan capacity of 128 MW.
A primary goal of this prototype is to allow a data center to adapt to new technology over time without the need for significant changes to the building structure, envelope or primary electrical capacities. The modular design is focused around units of server and network capacity that allow for scalability and flexibility, enabling a return on investment based on future response to evolutions in electrical, mechanical, server, network and operational technologies.
Select Mission Critical Clients
3M
Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation (ADNOC)
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Akridge
Amelang Partners
Apple
Applied Materials
ARAMCO
Aramco Services
Archway Properties
Arkema
Atmel
AWS
Baker Oil Tools
Bank of America
Baylor College of Medicine
Boeing (SpectroLab)
Bois d’Arc Energy
Celanese
CenterPoint Energy
Charles Schwab
Chevron Phillips Chemicals
Cisco Systems
Citadel Data Centers
Citi
City of Austin
ClayDesta Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation
Confidential Financial Services Client
Confidential Semiconductor Clients (Various)
ConocoPhillips
Continental Airlines
Corporate Office Properties Trust
Cullen/Frost Bankers
Cypress Semiconductor
Dallas Semiconductor
Dell
Dominion Virginia Electric Power
DuPont Photomasks (Toppan)
Dynamex
Employers General
Entergy
Enterprise Products Company
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Ethicon
ExxonMobil
Frito-Lay
Frost Bank
FUJITSU
General Electric
Hewlett-Packard
Heliovolt
Hoerbiger Corporation
Hospira (Abbott Labs)
Hospital Corporation of America (HCA)
Huntington National Bank
i2 Technologies
IBM Corporation
Intel
Investax Management / Plante Properties
Investco
Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Kinder Morgan
Lockheed Martin
Lonza
LSI Logic
Lucent Technologies
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Meta Microsoft
Mitsumi Electronics Corporation
Motorola (Freescale)
NASA
NEC Electronics
New Process Steel
Norvartis (Alcon)
NTT Communications
OKC Works
ONEOK Partners
OnRamp
Oracle Petroleum Institute
Photronics
Plexus Scientific Corporation
RagingWire Data Centers
Raytheon TI Systems
Sachem
Samsung
Saudi ARAMCO
Schlumberger
SEMATECH Corporation
Shell
Sony
Spansion
Spring Creek
ST Microelectronics
State of Texas
Sulzer Biologics
Sulzer Orthopedics
TEAM Industrial
Temple-Inland
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University Health Science Center
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Facilities Commission
Texas Instruments
Tivoli Systems
Tokyo Electron
TriQuint Semiconductor
United Airlines
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
U.S. Department of State
U.S. General Services Administration
Valero
Verizon
VistaPrint Corporation
Wells Fargo
Z-Colo Data Centers
Zadco
Zayo Group Data Centers
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