Digital Realty is the world's largest full-scale data center provider. Situating a data center in Atlanta was a no-brainer: it’s home to the southeast's largest concentration of telecommunications companies and sits atop most of the fiber connecting New York and Florida. And believe it or not, a 1950s building originally designed to serve as a printing press and bomb shelter was the perfect match. Salas O'Brien embraced the unique challenges this project presented, tailoring designs and finding ways to balance project cost, maintenance, and performance.
Why a former printing press and bomb shelter? Those uses require a building with extra structural strength, making it ideal to carry the hefty weight of a data colocation center. In repurposing this building, our team provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering as well as design-build assessment and budget assistance.This 160,000 square foot data center (formerly owned by Telx) is supported by five transformers with power supplied by multiple power substations and 14 generators with more than 10,000 gallons of fuel storage. The mechanical system includes computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units served by a water fluid cooler system. All of these systems require a facility prepared for significant loads.
As a hub for transportation and global logistics, Atlanta has been named the nation's second most wired city, and has ranked in the top 10 as an “American City of the Future.” An overwhelming success, this data center at 56 Marietta has provided the Atlanta region and Digital Realty with a building fortified enough to meet the demands of a bright, productive future. Your information may be in the cloud, but behind every cloud is a data center!
Eric Anest