Houston 2: Progress in the Bayou City

We’ve made significant progress in preparing the site for the construction of our state-of-the-art Houston 2 Data Center and are well on our way to a Q1 2015 completion. Check out some pictures below of the construction crews hard at work.

Excavation and Leveling

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Surveying after leveling the future location of the Houston 2 Data Center Pods

Crews are excavating and leveling the site to make way for our three foot depressed data center slab. The unique design feature of a depressed slab means no ramps or steps anywhere in the data center.

Electrical Conduit Installation

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Electrical Conduit to feed the Generator Tab Box
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Conduit will be encased in concrete for added protection and reliability

Installation of the conduit for our Generator Tab Box is also underway. Our Generator Tab Box is something that you will not see in all data centers. It is an ultra-premium feature that will allow us to utilize a temporary generator while simultaneously operating our stationary generator under load bank. You will also noticed forms being built around the recessed conduit. While typical construction designs simply direct-bury conduit, we feel strongly about going one step further and encasing the underground conduit in concrete. Concrete encasement adds both additional protection and reliability to the contents within the conduit.

Steel Reinforced Piers

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Steel reinforced piers for supporting the Data Center Pods
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Strategic placement of steel reinforced piers allow for larger bays

Steel reinforced piers are being built and the concrete slab will be poured around them to provide increased support. One feature that distinguishes purpose-built over retrofitted data centers is the large column spacing that we use. The spacing will allow for larger than normal bays.

Not only is the construction of Houston 2 exciting news for the global technology community as a whole, it will undeniably provide the Houston Metro with a substantial economic boost, new job creation, and a huge opportunity for enterprise businesses and tech companies to access our premium colocation, disaster recovery and managed services.

Stay tuned as we continue to provide updates on the Houston 2 construction leading up to the grand opening in Q1 of 2015. Structural steel frame is going up next!