Equinix opens AM7 campus extension

Equinix is a digital infrastructure company with more than 220 data centres in countries across five continents. Its AM7 campus in Amsterdam is one of the most important digital hubs in the Netherlands.

Design by Royal HaskoningDHV reflects long-standing partnership

Royal HaskoningDHV has partnered Equinix in its rapid expansion within the Netherlands. This is the seventh data centre we have designed for the organisation and follows earlier work on a new 6MW data centre connected to the original AM7 building. The latest extension is a mirror copy of the second data centre and connects to it through bridges on three floors. These also provide routes for utility connections.

Our multi-disciplinary data centres team managed the entire project and provided design across all disciplines – mechanical, electrical and architectural, excluding the façade. We organised phasing and coordinated with all stakeholders to ensure completion in a tight time frame. This was complicated by the project coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic but, through the commitment of the entire team, the project was successfully completed on schedule.

Having been involved in the original AM7 masterplan, we had ensured utility capacity was sufficient to meet future expansion plans. That enabled the new data centre to be linked up to the existing utilities, while avoiding any disruption to live operations.

Heat exchange facility installed to meet future local demand

“Energy efficiency has been a major focus of our data centre design for many years,” explained Roy Scheidsbach, Director Netherlands Mission Critical Facilities at Royal HaskoningDHV. “Now we are working on further efficiencies and circular solutions, particularly in relation to heat and water.”

To this end, one of the changes made in the new data centre has been the addition of a heat exchange facility. It forms part of the building’s cooling arrangement and currently dissipates heat into the environment. However, it is ready to be linked into a heat exchange system, should it be required in the future when plans to transform the business park into a lively residential neighbourhood are realised. Further sustainable features have been designed for the office at the entrance to the building. It is heated using heat generated in the data centre and is powered with the help of solar panels on the roof.