Confidential Insurance Client Data Center and Office
Features & Highlights
- Two-story, 44,000-square-foot Tier III data center
- Saved over $2 million on original budget
- Project completed four months ahead of schedule
- Commissioning task force, BIM technology and prefab construction were key factors in successful completion
Project Overview
A two-story, 44,000-square-foot Tier III data center featuring 4.5 megawatts of mission-critical power expandable to 6 megawatts, four 500 kVA UPS service, two 450-ton chillers expandable to four 450-ton chiller units, dual substation utility feed with three redundant circuits, and 16,000 square feet of raised access flooring in three expandable equipment rooms. The project also included a four-story, 101,000-square-foot office building, including workspaces, meeting and conference rooms, secure data and storage spaces. Site work for the project included underground retention, grading, and utility improvements and over 500 surface parking spaces.
The construction of the office building and data center were connected in the schedule’s critical path because the office building was to house the data center’s operations personnel. Due to tax advantages, the owner asked Sundt to accelerate the schedule so that move-in could occur four months earlier than originally planned. This required bringing all affected subcontractors into pull planning sessions to choreograph remaining work. The rush was due in part to the need to complete interior finishes during the hot part of summer and utilize the conditioned space. In order to maintain the aggressive schedule, we pre-purchased selected equipment and held two planning sessions per week to ensure completion and handoff between subcontractors.
Finally, we established a commissioning and close-out task force consisting of subcontractors, engineers, the owner’s rep, and a third-party commissioning agent. This group met biweekly from the beginning of the project to coordinate and ensure that all pre-planning, checklists, and modes of operations were understood. During final commissioning, each participant understood what part they played and which constraints to remove to make the project successful. The project was completed utilizing BIM technology, which enabled us to pre-manufacture all aspects of the project including piping, ductwork, and conduit banks in the mechanical and electrical yards while the substructure was being built. The pre-fab portions of the mechanical and electrical systems fit perfectly into the building with no clashes.