Pure Data Centres Granted Planning Permission In London For World’s Largest Living Wall

London, 22 January 2024:

Planning permission has been granted in London for the world’s biggest ‘living wall’. Pure Data Centres (“Pure DC”), backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”), will be integrating the wall into the second building on its campus in Brent Cross, North London.

Pure DC’s living wall, being installed by specialist firm Viritopia, will cover an area of 7,400 square meters, making it the largest in the world. The current title is held by The Khalifa Avenue in Qatar, which is 7,000 square meters. The largest living wall on a building is One Assembly in Singapore, which is 5,300 square meters.

Work has already begun on the site, adjacent to Pure DC’s existing London data centre, which will take overall capacity at the London campus to over 90MW, with capacity to expand further – helping to satisfy the increasing demand for cloud services and AI processing.

The living wall will envelop the new structure and will contain more than 750,000 individual plants which will be installed using a modular system. Key functions of the plants are to absorb noise and to help filter out air pollution.

The extensive planting area will also enhance the site’s biodiversity by creating important habitats for birds and insects. It will also provide a protective outer layer to the building, helping to reduce solar gain and improve the microclimate.

Demand for data centres is at an all-time high, especially in London, which accounts for 80 per cent of the UK’s data centre market. The data centre market in the UK is projected to grow by over 60% by 2029.

Dame Dawn Childs, Chief Executive Officer for Pure DC, said: “The data centre industry is facing a critical challenge of building the digital infrastructure needed to support the demands of global data growth in a way that also takes care of the local environment. Gaining planning permission for the living wall is an exciting step in our effort to meet this challenge head-on.

“Alongside our subsidiary, A Healthier Earth, who play a significant role in helping us to accelerate nature-positive projects like this, Pure is committed to researching and developing innovative solutions which support long-term biodiversity projects and ensure our data centres make a positive impact in the areas where we work.”

The project is the latest innovation from Pure DC, which develops and operates data centres that incorporate innovative design features to be as sustainable as possible, using modern and innovative building materials and effective decarbonisation processes.

Pure DC conducts Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) on every development to understand its construction and operational carbon footprint. It aims to send zero waste to landfill and remove water usage in operation via closed-loop cooling systems and rainwater harvesting, where possible.

Pure has replaced diesel in standby generators with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) wherever it can be sustainably sourced, reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent for Scope 1.

Pure DC’s research and development subsidiary A Healthier Earth will oversee the construction of the living wall. This climate-tech catalyst develops, delivers, and operates planet-positive projects.

The development of the ‘living’ wall is part of A Healthier Earth’s wider research and development work, through which Pure is placing an emphasis on forward thinking developments and sustainable approaches to decarbonise digital infrastructure.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Pure DC believes that transparent and science-based targets will allow them to proactively work towards their goals and has aligned with key frameworks and reporting structures to allow them to measure, monitor and manage their Sustainability goals and objectives (see below):

  • Silver EcoVadis Sustainability Accreditation – 2024.

  • Pure evaluates their climate change-related risks and opportunities via Task Force for Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and disseminates outcomes as part of their Annual Report.

  • They have been measuring their emissions since 2022 in line with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and obtain 3rd party verification.

  • They have set near term targets via Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

  • They carried out their first Carbon Disclosure Project in 2023, and have a Score of B.

  • They are active members of UN Global Compact, Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact and have signed the iMasons Climate Accord.

About Pure Data Centres

Pure DC develops and operates data centres for some of the world’s largest technology companies which meet today’s digital demands while safeguarding all our tomorrows. We currently have over 500MW of IT capacity live or under development across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including London, Dublin and Jakarta sites. Pure DC is backed by Oaktree, a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments. We are a leader in developing and operating sustainable data infrastructure and believe that data centres are an essential service which can be a force for good, creating employment opportunities, supporting local communities and investing in environmental restoration.

About A Healthier Earth

A Healthier Earth is a climate-tech catalyst that is backed by Oaktree to deliver planet-positive projects, at speed and scale. It operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Pure DC and brings together multidiscipline teams of engineers, researchers and practitioners to develop, deliver and operate solutions that help restore nature, while contributing to the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. A Healthier Earth’s geo- specific approach enables it to develop the best solutions to meet regional and global environmental objectives. The organisation urges others to join them, bringing ideas, expertise and resources together to solve earth’s problems and accelerate change.

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For Pure Data Centres
[email protected] or 020 3327 4050