Give Steel – supplying steel structures to build data centres

Give Steel supplies steel structures for use when building all types of data centres. Depending on the type of data centre, the types of steel structures that may be required can vary greatly in size; from hyperscale, colocation and edge computing, to wholesale and enterprise.

We are renowned for our ability to optimise all types of steel structures to achieve savings in tonnage, CO2 emissions, ensuring low construction costs, no matter the size of the data centre.

Contact

Would you like to find out how our engineers can help you with your data centre project?

Please contact

Khisraw Dastagir
Head of Data Centres

 

Data centres and steel structures

A data centre is essentially a large, open floor space. It is a “warehouse” type structure that has been designed and constructed to the minutest detail, to house and operate an intensive IT infrastructure that requires large volumes of floor area. Data centres are, therefore, often built to massive dimensions that require the use of large steel structures with expansive spans.

Give Steel has solid experience in the design, planning, production and installation of the large load-bearing steel structures that are used in data centre construction. We apply our excellent project management competences to safely guide the construction process, from order to installation. Large, hyperscale data centres are incredibly heavy and built to incredibly large dimensions with impressive spans, which can complicate the task of producing the right steel structure for use in their construction.

Engineers who specialise in data centres

Our engineers are dedicated in their work to streamline the project’s entire process, economy and schedule, aiming to supply as complete a solution for the shell building as possible. This allows us to achieve an uninterrupted production process with the fastest possible delivery, reduced costs and a good final result, guaranteed. We do our best to assemble a fixed team for all data centre projects as this allows us to exchange experiences from previous projects. This experience helps you and your data centre by ensuring that the resulting steel structure project is both well-considered and cost-effective.

We base our calculations on sketches and prepare specific calculations for load-bearing steel structures, including any connection points, before preparing a BIM model in Tekla. All steel structures are produced in Denmark using efficient, responsible and modern high technologies and are safely installed at construction sites throughout Northern Europe.

The process

  1. Our advisor’s diagrams are converted into engineering diagrams/load-bearing system. This includes the placement of load-bearing beams and columns. Any braces, steel at node points and bolt assemblies are incorporated into the model.
  2. Engineering diagrams are completed, and design documents prepared. All static solutions are converted into a BIM model. BIM serves as the basis for other contractors to work from, such as a concrete contractor.
  3. Production diagrams are prepared.
  4. Production and surface coating work is completed at our factory in Denmark.
  5. Transportation to the construction site
  6. Installation: Give Steel will either install the steel structure or provide installation diagrams if working with a third party.

Delivery

The dialogue between our experienced professional fitters/site managers and other contractors working on your data centre will always be positive and constructive. We think that positive partnerships on construction sites are important. We work towards solutions when unforeseen challenges arise along the way and do our utmost to satisfy the customer’s scheduling requirements.

In addition to the actual production of steel structures for the shell building, we also offer galvanising and fire-protective paintwork, as well as transportation to and installation at the construction site.

We also offer:

  • Grid frameworks
  • Industrial staircases
  • NEW Façade closure with sandwich panels or trapezoid steel panelling.

Reduce the amount of CO2 in the steel structure for your data centre

We use BIM modelling to design steel structures to CO2 optimise tonnage, price and transportation. The less steel we use, the bigger the CO2 savings. Overscaling means wasted resources and is the biggest problem associated with reducing the CO2 footprint of a steel structure. Our steel specialists therefore always work towards coming up with new ways to use the great characteristics of our steel in as optimal a way as possible.

Factors that make a difference include among others:

  • The use of welded profiles can generate up to 32% CO2 savings.
  • The recycling ratio of the raw materials determines the CO2 emissions for the steel. We use steel types with scrap percentages of between 25-98%, which allows the project to be adapted to both economic factors and the desired level of sustainability.
  • CO2 transport emissions can be reduced by using fossil-free fuels. HVO100 Biodiesel produces up to 90% lower CO2 and up to 10% lower NOx emissions.
Find out more about CO2 optimisation

Certifications and legal competence

Give Steel is certified to produce and CE label steel structures for the European market in all execution classes (EXC 1 – EXC 4). Our quality assurance system is based on ISO 3834, and we have 1090-1 certification. External quality audits are performed on an ongoing basis to ensure that our certification is always valid and up to date.

Give Steel has over 20 years of experience as a supplier of steel structures to projects and data centres that require the conclusion of non-disclosure agreements. Our in-house legal team allows us to assure that all contractual requirements upon which the construction of a data centre may pivot are in safe hands, including NDAs and other legal matters.

Certifications

The future looks bright for European data centres

The European data centre market is expected to grow over the next five years. Almost everything nowadays communicates digitally. The primary factors driving growth in the data centre market include the appearance of 5G connections and the increased use of cloud-based solutions. There is also an increasing tendency to choose edge computing solutions (micro data centres) in closer proximity to the company or location where the data is to be used.

In recent years, Denmark has evolved from being an essentially unknown territory for data centre investment to its current position at the top of the list of the best countries to set up shop, alongside other Scandinavian countries, like Norway, Sweden and Finland.