HBOS banks on the value of off-site construction

Using plant rooms made off site by Armstrong Integrated Systems has reduced programme timescales for the expansion of two HBOS data centres. Sites at Copley and Pudsey in Yorkshire were scheduled for expansion with additional buildings to house employees and equipment. Chilled-water pumping plant rooms were needed for each site. Building these plant rooms in Armstrong’s own factory reduced health-and-safety risks and enabled them to be quickly dropped into position on the roof of each newly erected building for final connections. The project includes four plantrooms that house plate heat exchangers rated at 3600 kW, as well as pumps, deaerators, side-stream filters and control equipment. The two plant rooms for the Copley site were combined within a single enclosure with a dividing wall. Measuring 20 x 12 m, the finished plant room weighed 128 t. It was delivered to site in five modular sections, each weighing up to 24 t. The two smaller plant rooms for the Pudsey site are each 11 x 8 m and were constructed in separate enclosures. Making the plant rooms off site enabled them to be built at the same time as the rest of the projects over a 16-week period instead of at the end of the building process. Final installation was achieved in days, instead of requiring weeks on site. Further expansion is planned by HBOS at both site, and Armstrong has incorporated the requirements of the next phase into the initial designs.

Related links:

• www.armstrongintegratedsystems.com