nLighten Bristol BRS1 Data Centre

Colo-X analysis

nLighten’s Bristol BRS1 data centre is benefitting from a £15m investment. Beginning in 2025, the investment will transform this former Capgemini and Proximity data centre into a modern and efficient facility, well suited to the needs of the local market. New power modules of 1.2MW each are being provisioned with a design PUE of 1.2, a significant improvement on the current situation. Maximum possible IT load of nearly 10MW is available on full development of the site.

Network is currently available from Virgin and Openreach, but nLighten’s own nConnect platform is now available, offering internet access, cloud on-ramps and data centre interconnects to other nLighten sites in the UK and Europe.

The nLighten Bristol data centre is one of 10 that the edge-focused operator runs across the UK, with a further 25 in Europe.

nLighten Data Centres Bristol BRS1 facility description

The nLighten Bristol data centre is located on the Aztec West Business Park, right by Junction 16 of the M5. The site has quite a history as a data centre, most recently in use by Capgemini, who still remain on site but now as a customer, both here and at the sister Swindon site, which is now also part of nLighten. It was originally purpose-built as a data centre by Sun Alliance in the 1990s and was constructed to the demanding standards of a large financial institution.

There is a single, large data floor on the upper-ground floor. This is currently divided into three distinct halls, with all the supporting infrastructure below in the huge undercroft.

A separate but adjacent energy building houses four dedicated transformers, dual-diverse and independent power feeds, and three 2.25MVA generators. There is currently around 4MVA of existing capacity, with most of this available as Capgemini are winding down their data centre operations here. The site has historically had List X status.

The site offers significant scope for expansion as and when needed, up to 10MW. This could take place within a large area currently used as office space or even on to the large car park in the future (the site was once home to 300 staff). nLighten are now the freeholder and landlord.

nLighten are backed by digital infrastructure investment fund I Squared Capital, and the edge-focussed operator now claims 35 sites across Europe, including 10 in the UK.

The other 25 nLighten sites are found across Europe. Most are in Germany and France, with others in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands (which is also home to nLighten’s headquarters).

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