Kao Data, a new entrant to the wholesale data center market with its £200 million Kao Data Campus providing around 150,000 square feet technical space once completed and 35MW power for IT equipment, has announced the opening of Kao London One – the first of four data centers to be built at the Kao Data Campus in Harlow.
Kao London One is opened with a fully operational Technology Suite, providing 2.2MW customer-ready technical space within an 8.8MW Powered Shell. Kao Data Campus would offer the latest thinking in terms of design, energy-efficiency and sustainability, and flexible configuration “to offer some of the most advanced facilities available.” Key to the Kao design philosophy is reduced complexity in mechanical and electrical system engineering.
“The ever-expanding data economy continues to drive the need for IT capacity,” said Jan Daan Luycks, CEO of Kao Data. “Kao London One provides highly resilient capacity and connectivity for national and international businesses. We believe that our strategic location and premium campus solutions offers an exceptional proposition to customers across a wide range of sectors, providing them with significant competitive edge.”
Kao Data Campus is located in the London-Stansted-Cambridge technology corridor, just 20 miles North of the London Docklands and 30 minutes from Liverpool Street.
“It is has become increasingly rare for new companies to launch into the wholesale data center market,” said David Bloom, Chief Executive (CEO) and founder of Goldacre Ventures (now part of the Noé Group). “The barriers to entry are simply too high given the funding requirement and the lack of suitable sites with sufficient owned power, land and connectivity. Kao Data Campus represents an exciting and important resource for the UK data economy. Not only is it backed by some of the world’s most astute investors, it also benefits from an experienced and visionary management team.”
Ultra-Low PUE
With concurrently maintainable site infrastructure, Kao London One is designed to provide 100% uptime. Together with climate control infrastructure utilizing Indirect Evaporative Cooling (IEC) Units, the Kao Data Campus would provide highly resilient and highly energy efficient operations, with a proven ultra-low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) below 1.2.
“Since providing a debt facility to the business in February last year, which has been used to support the construction of the first data center, we have been impressed with the performance of the Kao team,” said Tom Phillips, Investment Director at Downing. “Completing the build program to schedule and on budget is reflective of their ability to deliver on what they say they are going to do. We now look forward to the growth of the business and seeing a range of different customers choosing Kao Data as their data center provider and partner of choice.”
