Houston One Data Center Construction: Tilt Walls Are Up
Houston is known for space exploration and its international energy industry. It’s also increasingly known for its advanced healthcare and life sciences. Houston is home to MD Anderson, the world’s largest cancer center, and Texas Medical Center, the largest medical city globally with 21 hospitals, four universities, three medical schools, and six nursing programs.
This ‘can do’ city with thriving industries must also be built with the fortitude to weather significant natural events. This means data centers in the area should be constructed with the craftsmanship and extraordinary measures required to meet and exceed the regional requirements for resiliency and availability. Whether your business is local to the Houston region or your organization needs to offer services to many businesses or users in the area, a Houston data center with low-latency computing can be critical to your digital strategy.
Construction Updates For Houston Businesses
On that note, we are thrilled to share more construction news on the expansion of our Houston data center! Houston One sits on a 20-acre campus in Houston’s Energy Corridor. Currently, the data center houses four completed and dedicated data halls for wholesale and enterprise retail customers. Our new construction includes expanding the existing core and shell, adding 33,000 square feet to envelop two new data halls.
Construction on the expansion of our Houston One data center kicked off at the end of September 2021 and is moving along according to schedule. We have poured the foundation, raised the walls, and we will shortly begin raising the roof! Our procurement and construction teams have been handling supply chain challenges with finesse, showing off their expert planning and project management capabilities to ensure on-time delivery for Houston customers.
A Houston-Strong Foundation
The foundation of our purpose-built data center begins underground with piers drilled 15 feet into the earth at a width of eight feet. These piers provide significant strength to the structure, grounding the entire data center. Installing these strong piers in greater density, depth, and width than the average data center and connected to steel grade beams equips the data center to weather Houston-strength storms and high winds. Our engineering teams ensure that edge customers and local Houston customers have always-on availability in this region.
Dual, Encased Power and Network Feeds
We’ve also begun the work of tapping into our dual, diverse, concrete-encased power and fiber-optic cable conduits. The data center’s power comes from a 300-MW substation adjacent to the campus; network cables connect to I-10’s fiber-optic backbone for low-latency connectivity. These dual feeds are encased in concrete and buried underground to protect them from any interference on the surface. Each of our new data halls will have its dedicated transformer connected to the dual power feeds, offering copious redundant power resources.
Robust Concrete Data Hall Walls
The 18-foot tilt-up concrete walls have been poured, molded, and raised. These walls are poured and raised on-site rather than prefabricated because they are too wide to fit on trucks. We prefer these custom-made wide walls because they add strength and stability to the structure. Once raised, these walls will be welded to the underground piers for maximum stability. An additional four feet of concrete is poured in to connect the walls to the slab.
Raising the 190-MPH Wind Resistant Roof
We are currently building out the structural steel roofing framework. Once that is complete, corrugated metal decking is raised to cover the steel framework. This will be attached to the structure using six-inch bolts that will be welded to the steel framework. Following the metal decking, 6.5 inches of concrete will be laid over the steel to create our 190-mph wind-resistant roof. In the new year, the waterproof membrane will be added.
Quality Assurance for Mission Critical Operations
After each stage in our data center construction process, a third-party inspection is conducted to ensure quality and consistency. Concrete cylinders are routinely tested in a laboratory to determine their strength. The construction of our Houston One data halls is being closely monitored to ensure the protection of our clients’ critical infrastructure, keeping them online 24/7.
Building for Convenience
The data halls will also be column-free and offer level flooring throughout the building to remove angled ramp entries for safety and convenience. They will be built to allow for various power configurations: N, N+1, and 2N. Schedule a tour of our Houston One campus today to explore the site and see the robust building structure before the drywall covers it up!
Schedule a tour of the Houston One facility to see the data center for yourself as pre-selling for these wholesale suites will begin early in 2022.
