Global Switch receives full planning approval for its third London data centre

• London South adds a further 27,000 sq m of technical space across five floors at Global Switch’s London data centre campus taking the total campus to 115,000 square metres.
• Designed to provide high power density suitable for HPC and AI deployments with both air and liquid cooled optionality for customers.
• Designed to BREEAM rating of Excellent with a PUE of less than 1.2
• Unique connectivity offering within established data centre campus

London – 22 February 2024 - Global Switch, a leading owner, operator and developer of large-scale network dense, carrier and cloud neutral multi-customer data centres in Europe and Asia-Pacific, today announces that it has successfully been granted planning approval for the construction of a new five floor, 27,000 sq m data centre, London South, at its London campus. Once complete the addition of the new data centre will make Global Switch’s London site, which includes London East and London North, one of Europe’s largest purpose-built data centre campuses at 115,000 square metres with 126MVA of utility power supply capacity.

Located in the heart of London’s connectivity rich Docklands hub, London South will deliver a low latency, highly interconnected OCP compliant data centre experience, offering 40MW of IT power capacity. Less than a mile from London’s Canary Wharf and within 3.5 miles of the City of London, the data centre will offer a range of densities from 3,000W/sq m as standard to >5,000W/sq m with liquid cooling optionality, making it the ideal environment for the evolving technology to support low latency AI solutions to serve London.

London South complements the existing London East and London North data centres which already have the ability to provide high density air and liquid cooled solutions to the market. London South simply provides further capacity for growth on the campus for new and existing customers who demand operational excellence in a low latency Tier 1 location.

The data centre is aligned with the objectives of the Mayor of London’s policy requirements provided within the Energy Hierarchy of the London Plan. Global Switch’s London campus already benefits from 100% renewable energy, whilst London South has been designed to incorporate the latest energy efficient and resilient technologies in order to minimise power consumption and reduce the carbon footprint of the data centre. These include low energy flexible cooling solutions for critical environments and fossil free HVO fuel for use in its backup generators, offering reductions of up to 90% of net CO2. The data centre will also have the ability to export heat to the local community if so required.

With over 25 years of expertise, Global Switch has cultivated a wealth of knowledge and experience that ensures operational excellence. The data centre will target an annualised Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.2 and has been designed to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent. Both the PUE and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) will exceed the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP) targets, and will be among the best in the industry, demonstrating our commitment to environmental sustainability.

In keeping with the existing London Campus, connectivity is prioritised, and London South will include two diverse building entry points, facilitating present and future growth, bringing the total on the campus to ten. Further, an additional two Meet Me Rooms will create an interlinked network of six across the entire campus, giving the data centre instant access to the majority of the world’s leading networks and cloud on-ramps.

Adam Eaton, London’s Executive Group Director said:

“In a market expected to double in size by 2025/26, Global Switch’s London South data centre is ideally positioned to provide highly resilient, low PUE space for a wide variety of customers. This latest addition to our London Campus will meet the burgeoning needs of hyperscale, large enterprise and cloud and managed services providers who are looking to house their mission critical infrastructure.

As well as a commitment to utilise only 100% renewable electricity, the data centre also benefits from minimal water consumption and the potential to export heat to the local community. London South encapsulates Global Switch’s most advanced design guidelines as we continue to drive towards our target of net zero across the portfolio by 2030.”

Ashley Muldoon, CEO said:

“With this new addition to our London campus, Global Switch will provide existing and new customers with further expansion opportunities in yet another Tier 1 located, low latency, high density data centre solution.

Our London Docklands campus will continue to play an essential role in delivering HPC and AI in the London market, as we grow our unique offering in 2024.”