McLaren Construction has been awarded a shell and core contract to build the first of three 70MW data centre buildings for a new data centre campus in London Docklands.
The 210 MW data centre campus in the Royal Docks is being developed by US firm Ada Infrastructure; this is its first development in Europe.
McLaren’s contract includes the infrastructure for the whole campus and the interface for a future district heating network.
Its supply chain for the project includes Keltbray and Menard for piling, Gallagher for groundworks and civil engineering, and William Hare for the steel frame.
The data centre buildings will have air and liquid cooling systems that operate without water evaporation. Other environmental considerations include the use of low-carbon building materials and provision for a district heating system interconnection. The campus is engineered to be AI-ready, capable of adapting to the intensive power and cooling requirements of AGPU-based applications.
McLaren’s shell and core contract is due to be completed mid 2028 so that the first building of the Ada Docklands Campus will be ready for occupation by the end of 2028.
James Moloney, head of Ada Infrastructure EMEA, said: “The appointment of McLaren Construction is an important step in bringing this vision to life. Their experience delivering complex data centre and infrastructure projects will be instrumental as we transform this long-vacant site into a sustainable, future-focused campus that also enhances public spaces and contributes to the wider regeneration of the Royal Docks.”
McLaren Construction divisional director Gareth Peebles added: “A project of this scale requires a balance of expertise across multiple disciplines, including putting health and safety as a top priority. McLaren has built a tried-and-tested team of specialists in civil, structural, architectural and MEP packages, infrastructure and data centre fit out. We will combine that expertise with our experience of safe and successful delivering within the many constraints of London’s Docklands sites.”
To date McLaren Construction has built more than £1bn-worth of data centres in the UK and Middle East. Past projects have been in London, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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