NEXTDC P2, Perth’s first Tier IV data centre, has been named Best Commercial Property in the WA Property Council Awards. The project, delivered by Hames Sharley in partnership with Urbis and City of Perth (COP), is Western Australia’s largest data centre, comprising of over 10,000m² of technical space and 10 high-density data halls.
Located in the emerging Stirling Street Precinct, NEXTDC P2 is one of eastern Perth’s most striking new landmarks with prominent positioning along the Graham Farmer Freeway. The property took out the top gong due to its outstanding development of world-class digital infrastructure crucial to the growth trajectory of the WA economy.
The award adds to the development’s accolades, with NEXTDC P2 having previously won Best Project at the Master Builders-Bankwest Excellence in Construction Awards, in addition to the Best Industrial Building $50-100 million award.
Hames Sharley Project Lead, Dean Symington, said that being named Best Commercial Property in the WA Property Council Awards recognises NEXTDC P2 as integral to Western Australia’s continued growth.
“This award recognises the importance of NEXTDC P2 as an important digital interconnectivity hub, commending both its functionality and design. I am incredibly proud of everyone who worked tirelessly in helping bring this project to life, balancing the security requirements of the data centre with the City’s desire for an open and transparent public interface.
“One of the biggest challenges of this project was the need to deliver a non-public building with a public interface that also connected the street level. Strong, bold architectural accents of red were chosen to emphasise 3D spatial geometries in NEXTDC, while the inclusion of fins to the street works to create a dynamic façade when moving past the building at speed. Hames Sharley added further value by investigating and implementing the inclusion of breakout spaces to the street for additional façade activation and improved user experience.”
NEXTDC P2’s design concept is robust enough to stand alone as its own development or seamlessly integrate with the planned future stages of the precinct. It is a facility that delivers a level of data centre quality that champions the world’s highest design, construction, and operational excellence standards.
P2’s fault-tolerant infrastructure means that any individual equipment failures or distribution path interruptions will not impact the facility’s overall operations; delivering a new cloud and connectivity infrastructure that supports the growing needs of the Western Australian community and economy.
“Environmental considerations are always at the forefront of new developments, however the challenge is that standard ‘green initiatives’ such as solar panels aren’t appropriate for such projects. Hames Sharley worked to include as many sustainable initiatives as possible, such as efficient MEP systems, low-flow fixtures and fittings and the inclusion of end-of-trip facilities to encourage alternate modes of transport to work. P2 aligns with NEXTDC’s commitment to sourcing renewable energy where possible and, through an innovative operation process, achieve the lowest possible power usage,” said Mr Symington.
P2 is one of only a few data centres in the Asian Pacific region that achieves Tier IV certification - the pinnacle of data centre certifications worldwide - for a constructed facility and Gold certification for Operational Sustainability.
