Working in collaboration across the Laing O’Rourke businesses within the UK and the United Arab Emirates, we were responsible for the successful design, construction and commissioning of the Khazna Data Centres Expansion projects.

The projects are located in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi and Meydan, Dubai and are approximately 17,166m2 delivering an additional IT load of 7.5MW at each facility. Khazna is majority-owned by Mubadala Investment Company and is the only dedicated commercial wholesale data centre provider in the UAE.

Digital engineering and Dfma

Digital engineering was a key feature of the design process along with several Design for Manufacture & Assembly (DfMA) elements which saved over three months on the project timeline. The DfMA solutions included 150 containment modules per project, 4km of mechanical pipework and equipment modules all fabricated off site utilising 200 tonnes of steel.

Experience in delivery

Both projects showcased Laing O’Rourke’s data centre capability in the Middle East having previously undertaken two projects in the UAE for Khazna and one for another client. Mr Abdulaziz Huwail from Mubadala Investment Company commented: “We have a strong working relationship with Laing O’Rourke having worked with them on two projects previously so we were confident that this next wave of data centres would be safe in their hands. We value Laing O’Rourke’s ability to interrogate and influence a design, turning it into a programme that will be delivered with certainty and to the highest infrastructure standards.”

Delivering certainty for our client

Whilst both of these projects were complex, working alongside our specialist business Crown House Technology meant we were able to have fully integrated Civil and MEP disciplines working as a single team mobilised to manage and coordinate the design, engineering and procurement over both sites. This resulted in delivering certainty for our client and a time saving on the build programme. Khazna CEO Mr Hassan Al Naqbi stated; “We are extremely pleased with Laing O’Rourke who was responsible for the successful design, construction and commissioning of the Khazna Data Centers Expansion projects. We look forward to the continued engagement with Laing O’Rourke to meet the future requirements of our tenants.”

Award winning

In December 2020 our team in the Middle East was delighted that the Khazna Data Centres were recognised within the National Winners for the Digital Infrastructure Project of the Year at the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) awards. The 2020 edition of the MEED Projects Awards received over 130 entries from leading organisations, project owners, contractors and consultants across 19 unique categories. Over 40 independent judges were looking for innovation, sustainability, social impact, design, construction, engineering, and health & safety as part of the successful project delivery.