Solutions for accelerating data centre delivery in Asia Pacific

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4 December 2024 | 6 min | Article

By , , and

The Asia Pacific region is experiencing a surge in demand for data centres, evident in the market's projected expansion with data centre capacity expected to nearly double^[1] by 2028, a compound annual growth rate of 13.3 per cent^[2]. As a result, data centre owners, designers and developers are under pressure to design, build or expand facilities at pace, while managing complex structural challenges, climate concerns and rising costs.

This article explores how structural and civil engineering solutions – from climate-conscious planning to innovative materials and modular designs – can help strike the right balance between speed to market and cost efficiency and why this is crucial for the long-term success and sustainability of data centres.

Key takeaways:

Planning for resilience – including climate change impacts and resilience planning into structural design helps data centres better withstand potential extreme weather events and bolsters long-term durability.
Material selection matters – alternatives to traditional concrete, such as steel or hybrid systems, can reduce construction time without exceeding the budget.
Modular designs speed up delivery – prefabricated and modular systems allow for quicker assembly and provide flexibility for future expansion.

On this page

Built to last

Speed meets innovation

The modular approach

Case study: Global Switch Woodlands

Structuring for future success

Built to last: The role of climate-aware planning and design in data centres

The Asia Pacific region is facing increasingly volatile weather patterns, including higher storm frequencies, flooding, and increasing wind loads. In addition, rising temperatures in certain areas can add stress to cooling systems making it essential to integrate climate resilience into every aspect of data centre design.

By incorporating climate modelling into the design phase early, the structural integrity of data centres can be better protected, including elements such as:

Flood-resistant foundation designs, which are particularly important for coastal and low-lying areas.
Site layouts oriented to optimise natural cooling and maximise solar benefits, thereby enhancing thermal management and reducing operational strain.
Earthworks that channel water away from sensitive equipment zones.
Designs that incorporate existing profiles and enhance the landscaping design to manage overland flows.

Structurally preparing for future climate conditions not only protects against immediate risks but also ensures that data centres remain operational and durable over time.

The NEXTDC M2 Data Centre in Melbourne, Australia, integrated cutting-edge climate-aware design and construction practices to ensure operational sustainability, earning it Uptime Institute Tier IV Gold Certification. Innovative features like flood-resistant foundations and strategically designed earthworks were crucial in building in resilience to environmental risks.

The layout was also optimised for temperature control and humidity management, making the centre better equipped to handle rising temperatures and extreme weather.

Chilling out with liquid cooling in data centres.

How can data centres meet increasing power density demands while reducing carbon emissions?

Speed meets innovation: Rethinking build methods for data centres

Although traditional concrete structures are robust, they do come with lengthier construction timelines, which can subsequently delay the operational readiness of data centres. In a fast-paced market, this lag can equal lost opportunities and financial pressure.

Steel-framed structures that combine a hybrid mix of steel and concrete can reduce construction timeframes considerably. Steel’s prefabricated nature means that large sections of the building can be assembled off-site, utilising pre-cast elements, and be rapidly installed on-site. This approach reduces the reliance on formwork, speeds up the project timeline, and cuts costs associated with longer on-site operations. While steel may present initially higher material costs, these can be offset by the labour and time savings during construction.

NEXTDC M2 project used precast Super-T girders, typically found in bridge construction, allowing for a column-free design that maximised internal space while speeding up the build.

Exploring unconventional materials

Although not traditionally used in data centres, timber’s sustainability benefits and fast-build, modularised nature is also being explored, making it a potential material for future projects.

For example, the NEXTDC M2 project used precast Super-T girders, typically found in bridge construction, allowing for a column-free design that maximised internal space while speeding up the build. This approach reduced the reliance on traditional formwork, and construction timelines were cut by 50 per cent, enabling the superstructure to be completed in just 18 weeks.

This not only saved construction costs but, importantly, allowed NEXTDC to open its data halls to clients much earlier than usual. By successfully adapting these structures to construct a large flooring deck, free of columns, the project team has provided flexibility for future data centre design.

Additionally, Aurecon’s embodied carbon tool which can be used during material selection, can minimise a project’s environmental footprint.

Modular and future-proofed design approaches

The evolution of the data hall is closely tied to the economics of real estate where size and flexibility matter. As technological requirements change and data demands increase, the structural design of a data centre needs to accommodate expansions or upgrades without needing a major overhaul. Traditional construction approaches can limit this need for flexibility, making it more expensive and time-intensive to adapt a facility to changing needs.

Since prefabricated components of modular construction can be manufactured off-site, then transported and assembled on-site with speed, this provides a more efficient solution to pacing with future, unknown needs. Modular designs and construction also enable scalable growth – data halls and extra facilities can be added with minimal disruption to existing operations. The ability to expand capacity without requiring a complete overhaul is crucial in regions where demand for data storage and processing continues is growing at a rapid pace.

Balancing short-term construction objectives with long-term operational agility and future expansion is imperative. Data centre designers, owners and developers must balance the benefits of a more efficient structural solution with flexible space configurations, particularly for clients without a set data hall typology.

Case study: Global Switch Woodlands

CASE STUDY

Global Switch Data Centre, Singapore Woodlands

Designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold and Green Mark Platinum ratings, Global Switch Singapore Woodlands Data Centre was the first project in Singapore to use prefabricated mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) modular techniques on a large scale.

With the objective of delivering a highly resilient data centre environment, Aurecon was appointed to provide mechanical and electrical engineering services to the design and construct (D&C) contractor, Gammon. This data centre now allows scalable and flexible solutions supported by numerous connectivity options.

Global Switch required high-quality standards as well as a tight timeframe. Aurecon assisted Gammon in developing an innovative design for the offsite modular construction of the mechanical and electrical systems, enabling Gammon to assemble more than 60 per cent of the MEP works off-site. This method of Design for Manufacturing Assembly (DfMA) off-site has multiple benefits including increased productivity, safety and quality.

Structuring for future success: Balancing speed, cost, and regional factors

Investment in data centres has surged, with $1.7 billion in transactions recorded in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting an 81 per cent increase from the previous quarter^[2]. The substantial and growing demand for data centres makes the Asia Pacific region one of the most dynamic markets globally, reaffirming that success in this fast-moving sector requires an innovative approach to structural design, balancing today’s urgent needs with tomorrow’s demands.

While the need for speed is clearly important, getting data centres online while managing construction costs is a complex challenge to solve, especially in regionally diverse environmental conditions.

In Asia, where demand is surging but land is increasingly scarce, the tension between the proximity of data centres to both population hubs and energy sources will drive innovation in vertical building design and energy efficiency solutions. In Australia and New Zealand there is a trend toward hyperscale data centres with New Zealand designs also allowing for earthquake resilience and other environmental sensitivities.

By selecting an optimised mix of materials, data centre developers can have the best of both worlds: faster construction, the ability to reconfigure as technology, operational and environmental demands evolve, and long-term performance.

To explore how innovative structural design can accelerate your next data centre project while ensuring long-term resilience, connect with our experts at Aurecon. Let’s shape the future of data centres together.