Projects

From the outset of the project the partnership between Mace and the client has challenged itself to be the best, break records and set standards for the industry on a global scale. And over the last 4 years, they have more than succeeded, whether through achieving extremely aggressive early handovers, or completing 2 million hours reportable accident free in less than one year on site.

The Clonee Data Centre consists of three single-storey data centres, split into three phases, powered by a purpose built 220kV Substation, on a 95 hectare Greenfield site. The site infrastructure includes access roads, car parking, internal roads, entrance security hut and associated landscaping.

The initial phase comprised 11,600t of steel, approximately double the tonnage of the Eiffel Tower, 56,700sq m of roofing, and 65,500sq m of cladding, all of which were completed at least two months early and with 1,500 people on site at any one time. But the huge scale of the project isn’t the only thing that makes it stand out, the pioneering and innovative approach that has gone into the delivery has been truly unprecedented.

The Mace team have achieved world class standards for health, safety & wellbeing, quality and efficiency. Having delivered phases 1 and 2, and now working into Phase 3, the Clonee Data Centre has achieved 5.1 million man-hours (and counting) on the project, recording only one reportable accident, it has become the quality benchmark for the client’s vast datacentre portfolio and continues to achieve the aggressive programme milestones.

The project is also a leading example of the application of LEAN construction and BIM innovation within the construction sector and was awarded Autodesks AEC Excellence Award for best large project in 2018.

The success of this project has been pivotal in securing further work for Mace with the same client, which presently totals almost 150,000 sq m (1.6 m sq ft) of data centres in Ireland and a further project in Denmark.

When the client got the approval to start building on site in Denmark they approached Mace to partner with. Having just completed the first phase of works in Ireland with outstanding results, the client wanted us to replicate this on their new campus in Odense.

We quickly grew a cohesive team that was built on experience and lessons learned from Clonee and that included a mix of new employees and key experts from our Ireland data centre team.

In January of 2017, ten months after beginning in Ireland, we broke ground on the Odense Data Center. The project is visually an exact copy of Clonee except the design is adapted to allow export of waste heat to over 6,900 homes in the area.

Upon completion of the first phase, the self-contained data centre building will be approximately 56,000m2 and will be one of the most advanced, energy-efficient data centers in the world. It will be cooled using outdoor air and indirect evaporative cooling systems that emphasize water and energy efficiency—and like the Clonee data centre, Odense will be powered by 100% clean and renewable energy.

Deploying and mobilising project of this scale in an unfamiliar country for Mace was a challenge not to be underestimated. Mace shared key expertise from Clonee and structured a high-level management team that would oversee both projects. It was here that our procurement and methods of deployment were truly put to the test.

We reached-out to the local contractors and supply chain to build a network of trusted suppliers that would be with us for the delivery journey over the following years.

In 2013, a major global technology client appointed Mace as construction manager on their first European hyper-scale data centre. Located in the Noord-Holland region of the Netherlands, this data centre forms part of a multi-phased campus development that would become one of the largest campuses in Europe.

Mace commenced work on site in Q1 2014 and at present we are in the third phase of development having completed all previous phases on time and budget and to the highest quality level.

Over the last five years, Mace has continuously worked on this 120-acre site in Amsterdam, successfully negotiating and delivering multiple phases of construction. Each new phase is an extension of the campus with interconnecting services linking the buildings with the current construction phases spread over 13 primary buildings.

With a shared alignment in both collaboration and service excellence, our team have been committed to focusing on our client’s ethos at all levels of the organisation and delivering long-term service innovation consistently across all projects. Our team have been recognised for their commitment on an international scale, winning the British Safety Council Sword of Honour and Globes of Honour trophies on multiple occasions.

As each phase develops so does our approach to delivery. With many of the team having been on site now for four years we have adopted new innovations and technology across the campus that has streamlined our delivery.

One of the significant areas of change from phase to phase is the extensive adoption of DfSMA (Design for Safety Manufacturing and Assembly) and implementation of modern methods of construction. This has resulted in a substantial schedule saving, higher quality, less on-site man-hours, greater safety and overall commercial savings.

Through this project, Mace have been able to enrich the local economy through employment of local staff and companies throughout the continued phases of the project and have raised over €50,000 for local charities and schools.

Mace have completed the two most recent editions to the Telehouse campus at East India Dock, London. Both projects were expansions to the existing campus, multi-storey and set within a busy and constrained city location.

Mace were the Design and Build Main Contractor on phase 4 and 5 of the Telehouse East India Dock campus, phase 4 (Telehouse West) was set within the existing campus grounds with a link tunnel to an existing building whilst phase 5 (Telehouse TN2) was located on a new extension at the north of the campus.

Telehouse operates Europe’s first carrier-neutral co-located data centres (not tied to an internet service provider). Its London centres provide the UK’s main internet hub, a key part of the global network. It is also home to the London Internet Exchange (LINX), with members including all major UK internet service providers, government clients and organisations such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

In 2009, we began work as main contractor on a fast- track programme to complete a new data centre at Telehouse’s London Docklands campus, the fourth of their high specification facilities in Europe. This nine-storey tier 4 power and tier 3 cooling centre demonstrates our ability to provide single-source services, as we also delivered the logistics and undertook health and safety management.

Phase 5 was a ground breaking design incorporating the successful adoption of indirect air cooling (IACs) in multi- storey facility. The 25,000m2 facility was spread over 6 floors with generators and electrical plant housed in the bottom two floors. Both buildings were located within former docks which were filled in with earth, this created an immediate challenge to the project with piles installed up to 46 metres in depth.

The tower cranes also required piled foundations to maintain stability due to the ground conditions. The historic Grade II listed East India Dock boundary wall runs to the east of the site, and as one of the last remaining sections of the old East India Dock this 19th century, 70 metre long wall brick wall, is of historic and architectural significance and therefore had to be protected during construction.

Lloyds Banking Group contracted Mace to build a world class data centre, capable of maintaining its ICT infrastructure under even the most strenuous of circumstances.

Mace helped develop the initial client brief following a series of studies and reports on space and plant options, engineering systems, resilience levels, security requirements, key plant options, acoustic requirements, geotechnical and level surveys.

Mace value engineering involved project team meetings to analyse the various reports resulting in preferred options being adopted into the design along the way with due consideration given to environmental energy and conservation areas in this rural location. This meant that there was no delay in signing off the design with the client ready for work to start promptly.

The building comprises ground floor slab, mezzanine and barrel roof. Plant compounds to the side, house chiller units and generators to support approximately £70 million worth of MEP. Mace used only security cleared contractors so that Lloyds could be assured their critical systems are in trusted hands. That trust extended to testing critical systems and plant before they arrived onsite, so that real life usage could be simulated and equipment was proven before installation.

Further efficiency measures included having all containment systems and pipework prefabricated and using 3D computer modelling to build a digital prototype of the entire unit that makes sure estimates of the volumes of material are accurate and sequencing is pre-planned realistically. This modelling improves cost advice, procurement and planning and means that any potential clashes could be resolved at design stage.

The 3D modelling sequence is also shown to site operatives as part of their induction programme so that they can see what they are aiming to achieve. This model is linked to the operations manual for Lloyds so that they can work with maximum understanding of the site once it is complete.

Our industrious team offered a fully integrated service to help construct Santander’s twin data centres. Despite challenges, our 24/7 service meant we delivered ahead of schedule and, later, scooped up awards.

One of the world’s biggest banks, Santander appointed our experts to provide construction, cost and project management for the build of ‘Project Fox’ - a pair of multimillion pound underground, highly secure data centres in Leicester.

Mace was commissioned to deliver two subterranean data centres in Leicester, the scope encompassed our fully integrated services to cover the whole project lifecycle, including project management, contract administration, cost management, design management and electronic document control.

The main contractor departed midway through the build and Mace was asked to add construction management to our services to complete the project. At this take over point the project was several weeks behind schedule and suffering from many critical construction mistakes. Mace added over 50 data centre experts to our staff and embarked on round the clock working hour to ultimately deliver a world-class data centre four days early.

Each data centre was UTI Tier 4 rated and consisted of two levels of underground data centre with plant and equipment on the upper floors protected by blast walls. The data centre also achieved LEED Gold accreditation and secured a number of awards including British Safety Council Sword of Honour and British Safety Council 5* Health and Safety System Audit.