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Established in 2005 , Ark Data Centre ’ s ( Ark ) objective has always been to design , build and operate sustainable data centres . Between 2005 and 2008 , Pip Squire was working as a consultant to the owner when he was asked to join the new venture . “ So , I joined in January 2008 as Director of Engineering and Projects to create our initial data centre at Spring Park in 2008 . The business has really grown since then ,” he shares . Pip is now Head of Energy and Sustainability , and in our conversation , he breaks down the reality of the data ecosystem as the industry transitions to more AI-supported operations .
“ Ark has been very focused on design , build and operate for third parties . We own the campuses and data centres that we design , build , and operate . Our first campus is at Spring Park , Wiltshire , which began operations in 2010 . Our second one is at Cody Park , which is near Farnborough in Hampshire , and came online in 2011 . We ’ ve got a third data centre in Enfield , which takes power from the local London Energy Ltd energy from waste plant via a direct wire power purchase agreement that started operations in 2021 . We ’ ve also got in excess of 200kW ( IT ) in new facilities under development across three new campuses ,” Pip highlights .
According to Pip , the business ’ continued success is owed in a large part to its focus on availability , security , and sustainability . As a specialist in data centre construction and associated build , Ark ’ s leading strategy is to achieve sustainable solutions without sacrificing quality . “ We aim to meet all key requirements in our facilities . ‘ Availability ’ means we focus on maintaining the power and cooling systems to the customer ’ s equipment always on , ‘ Security ’ is ensuring that our facilities and the customer equipment in them are only accessible to those with the appropriate authorisation , whilst ‘ Sustainability ’ is focusing on how we
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