Datavita unveils Scotland’s first ‘metro’ data centre

Multi-cloud services provider Datavita has announced plans to open a new Glasgow data centre at 177 Bothwell Street.

The data centre represents £6 million of investment from the company and will be Datavita’s second facility, adding to its acquisition of the Fortis data centre in Lanarkshire in 2021.

Located within Glasgow’s largest single office building, the 150-rack capacity facility will be Scotland’s first ‘metro’ data centre. It will support occupiers along with the wider business community in the city’s International Financial Services District (IFSD).

DataVita said that its new data centre will support the tech, financial services, and fintech sectors, along with city centre projects such as the roll-out of 5G and internet of things (IoT) networks.

The new data centre is expected to be operational by the third quarter 2022.

Commenting on the news, Datavita managing director Danny Quinn said: “The installation of our new metro data centre at 177 Bothwell Street is a large part of our plan for growth.

“Having the data centre in the heart of the city will not only support the capabilities of 177 Bothwell Street, but will support the growing demand from telecoms, IoT, and smart city technologies providers for quality data centre services in the heart of Glasgow city centre.”

The 177 Bothwell Street property is the first development in Scotland to achieve a ‘Platinum’ WiredScore certification, recognising that occupiers will have the best connectivity available.

A recent independent economic impact assessment concluded that the 313,000 sq. ft. development will generate £2.8 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the Scottish economy over the next 25 years.

Stephen Lewis, managing director at HFD Property Group, which is developing the site, said: “Having a dedicated data centre at 177 Bothwell Street underlines HFD’s commitment to being a full-service property developer, giving our occupiers and the wider city access to the IT infrastructure they need.

“Occupiers within 177 are able to locate their IT systems in a purpose-built data centre within the building, benefitting from its inherent resilience and energy efficiency.

“The data centre will also provide the building with the IT infrastructure necessary for the many smart building technologies we are installing to make it operate as efficiently as possible.”

Business Minister Ivan McKee added: “I welcome the significant investment by DataVita in this metro datacentre. Our Green Datacentres and Digital Connectivity: Vision and Action Plan for Scotland outlines our objective of encouraging commercial investment in a portfolio of datacentres across Scotland, from the smallest to the largest facilities, delivering enhanced capacity and supported by a highly skilled workforce in Scotland.

“Located in the heart of the city, this facility will serve Glasgow’s International Financial Services District, together with technology businesses and the development of important innovation programmes including 5G and the Internet of Things.

“This will also support the objectives of Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation to create a more prosperous, more productive and more internationally competitive economy, helping to make Scotland fairer and greener.”