has been busy designing a pair of technologically advanced structures that set a new standard the integration of high-tech facilities within semi-residential settings. NEXTDC’s M3 and M2 data centres are strategically located near Tullamarine airport and its surrounding transport and telecommunications network.
Merlot 2, a new 16,000-square-metre, 60-megawatt colocation data centre, is now ready and its contemporary workspace interiors are aimed at setting a new benchmark in . As a purpose-built campus, the workspace of Merlot 2 has been fitted out with commercial office space, meeting rooms, training spaces and an auditorium, as well as customer amenities.
We’re all now well aware of the size of the role that data plays, for good or ill, in our lives today. The NEXTDC projects situate design at this cutting edge of the contemporary world, illustrating how data centres as physical forms are becoming a crucial infrastructure in the built environment.
The design of Merlot 2 brings together concerns about wellness, inclusivity and the integration of technology alongside the longstanding, core interiors principles of materiality and colour. Indeed, the use of a striking red is notable throughout, starting with the filigree facade of articulating blades that sit dramatically on the aluminium structure.
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Strong reds continue inside, from the floors to details of fittings or walls. It makes for a stimulating juxtaposition with the softer timbers that feature throughout.
A lower ground floor hosts open-plan workspaces, quiet rooms, and training and meeting rooms, while the ground floor comprises the front-of-house area, boardroom, auditorium and additional meeting rooms. The connecting stairs are used by multiple tenants, with HDR having fitted out other levels for commercial spaces used by employees and rented out to customers.
It would have been remiss of the designers at HDR to create a high-tech facility without themselves using high-tech means, so computational and generative design was used to rapidly evaluate manipulated parameters in real time. One of the key overall aims is to deliver a future-proof campus that can scale into a network of interconnected data halls on demand.
The future of the workplace continues to evolve rapidly and unpredictably. As phenomena such as data and interconnected cloud infrastructure become more and more the norm, we’re certain to see more workplace design following the trail that HDR has blazed at NEXTDC.
HDR
Photography
Nicole England
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