Integrated Design Group (ID) has announced that it has completed construction at the North Hall Data Center located at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

As a fully integrated design firm, ID provided architectural and MEP design services for the research data center renovation and expansion. Integral to the university’s computing operations, the data center, which contained enterprise computing capabilities and all campus network connections, was fully operational during the project, allowing the university community to access the servers normally and not cause disruption to the institution’s computing.

A major client goal was for the new research data center to become flexible and scalable in order to provide the opportunity for future expansion as needed. Although the existing facility posed significant limitations on interior clearances, restricting both the depth of the raised floor and the overall height within the computer room, ID was able to nearly double the raised floor space by using innovative cooling technology. With updated mechanical and electrical systems, the research data center is now able to support the latest in high performance computing.

By utilizing the 415/240 V AC power distribution system, which is standard in most European and Asian countries, ID was able to implement efficiency gains within  the data center, and provide monetary savings for the university. This application offers a significant amount of energy improvement over North America’s standard of 208/120 V. Delivering  power to IT loads at 415/240 V instead of 208/120 V eliminates power distribution unit (PDU) transformers. This elimination not only offers energy efficiency gain, but also reduces copper costs and floor loading while freeing up additional space within the data center.

“The North Hall Data Center project was the most complicated project I have ever worked on, and thanks to Integrated Design Group, it was the smoothest to manage,” said Telli Foster, project manager, University of California at Santa Barbara. “The team expertly addressed issues unique to our facility, giving us a data center that supports the latest in high-performance computing, all while keeping our existing facility operational during construction.”

The new data center provides the opportunity to install the most technologically advanced computing systems, as well as more computer rack space for the university as it continues to grow. Integrated Design Group is a leader in data center design and now adds USCB to its roster of higher education clients, along with Brown University, MIT, Harvard University, and the University of Connecticut. The firm also designs data centers for the third party, financial, retail, health care, and corporate markets.