Barker was appointed via a contractor partner to deliver the M&E design for the upgrade of a telecommunications data centre operated by a major UK provider. The facility forms a critical part of the national network, processing and transferring data between regional sites and central infrastructure hubs.
The project focused on improving the resilience and future capacity of the site’s electrical and cooling systems while ensuring services remained fully operational.
The client required a comprehensive M&E design to support the phased replacement and upgrade of key electrical infrastructure. Barker’s scope included the design of resilient power and cooling systems, alongside a detailed implementation strategy for future construction works.
A key requirement was to maintain a minimum of two independent power supplies serving the critical equipment throughout the upgrade works, ensuring that the system could continue to operate normally in the event of any single-point of failure and thereby providing full fault tolerance.
Barker also developed detailed installation methodologies to support safe delivery and accurate contractor pricing.
Critical infrastructure must be upgraded without disrupting live operations or any loss of power.
Maintaining the site’s dual-redundant (2N) power architecture throughout the works required careful planning. Temporary generators, switchboards and power connections needed to be introduced at various stages to ensure resilience was never compromised.
The design also had to preserve separate power routes across the site, reducing the risk of a single incident affecting both supplies. This created a highly complex programme of phased upgrades that demanded detailed engineering coordination.
Barker developed a resilient M&E design that provided multiple layers of power and cooling redundancy, ensuring critical equipment will remain operational if a power source fails. The electrical strategy incorporated utility connections, UPS systems, standby generators and dedicated connection points for temporary mobile generators, ensuring continuous operation during future upgrades.
Works will commence on site when funding has been allocated.
