Digital Meets Traditional

CHALLENGE:Digital Realty Trust, a global provider of data center solutions, entered the suburban Chicago market by acquiring a 575,000-sq. ft., single-story warehouse/light industrial facility in Franklin Park, Ill. Digital Realty Trust needed to convert the complex into a high-end, 24/7/365 mission-critical data center called Digital-Chicago. The complex, located near O’Hare Airport, includes three buildings on a 23-acre parcel of land. When fully occupied, the complex will have the capacity to accommodate up to twenty 1125-megawatt turnkey fl ex performance optimized datacenters. The first phase, designated DLR Building No. 55, is a 60,000-sq.-ft. data center planned for multi-tenant use. Eventually, the remaining space at Digital- Chicago will be similarly repurposed. The primary challenge facing the design team was to reduce construction time; a primary concern was how to quickly enclose the building envelope. SOLUTION:

The Digital Realty team specified the Kingspan KarrierPanel system to achieve a fast-track critical path of cladding construction. Suitable for all building types in any climate, the KarrierPanel System offers a time efficient alternative to conventional multi-part façades. This allows the structure to be quickly insulated to ensure air- and water-tightness. Once installed, the system provides excellent building envelope performance with a high R-value and creates an effective air, water and vapor barrier. With clients’ data at stake, the design team recognized the inherent value of using single component construction along with the immediate enclosure attributes of the KarrierPanel system.

null