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Digital Realty is one of the largest full scale centre providers in the world, offering colocation, wholesale deployments, interconnection and cloud services.
The global giant currently has 156 data centres situated across 11 countries and four continents. Its aim is to be a single trusted source in helping its customers conduct their business with increased ease and achieve their key growth objectives with an improved focus.
The requirements
The owner of Digital Realty contacted us as they wanted to install a loading bay canopy at their unit in Woking.
They needed the canopy to make sure any new equipment, such as servers, are protected from the weather during deliveries.
The canopy needed to cover a vast space, that spanned from the layby loading area to the loading bay doors. The clearance of the canopy also had to be the same as a motorway bridge, as the vast majority of Digital Realty’s deliveries arrive on articulated lorries.
Challenges
The main challenges centred around the overall look and feel of the canopy, as well as the clearance height.
It was essential that the canopy we installed blended in with the existing building and its surroundings.
From a logistical point of view, the height of the canopy was a key factor. We needed to make sure that it was tall enough to accommodate articulated vehicles up to 5,000mm tall, but short enough to still enable the upstairs canteen windows to be opened and close.
The solution
We specified one of our dual Connekt cantilevered canopies. This solution enabled us to design a canopy that required fewer posts and would therefore cause minimal disruption to Digital Realty’s day-to-day loading bay activities.
We designed the canopy so that it projects from either side of the central posts and is configured so that it is back to back, creating a dual pitched roof that cantilevers from the supporting posts.
Getting the clearance height right was an integral part of this particular installation and we achieved this by increasing the height and steel sizes on the canopy’s uprights. We also made sure that it is tall enough to cover delivery vehicles while still allowing the canteen windows immediately above to be used.
Results
Digital Realty no longer have to worry about their new equipment being damaged as it is off-loaded at its unit in Woking.
Despite the design and height challenges, the canopy was swiftly installed on time and, thanks to our colour-matching service, blends in seamlessly with the adjoining buildings.
