{"id":53366,"date":"2024-01-23T09:40:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T07:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/?post_type=showroom_cpt&p=53366"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:55:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:55:58","slug":"overall-design-of-the-air-data-center","status":"publish","type":"showroom_cpt","link":"https:\/\/www.sweco.fi\/en\/projects\/overall-design-of-the-air-data-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Overall design of The Air data center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Overall design of Verne Global Finland’s The Air data center<\/h1>\n

Verne Global Finland’s (Ficolo data center at the time of design) The<\/strong> Air<\/strong> is the first climate-neutral data center in the Nordic countries. Sweco was responsible for the overall design of the data center, from impressive architecture to exceptional structural solutions and energy-efficient building technology.<\/p>\n

Verne Global Finland, a data center and cloud service company, owns data centers in Pori, Tampere and Vantaa. Climate responsibility is reflected in the innovative cooling and heat recovery solutions and fire protection of all data centers. The company’s flagship is The Air, a data center completed in Vantaa in 2021.<\/p>\n

“We were responsible for designing the first climate-neutral hyperscaled-level data center in the Nordic countries with an interdisciplinary data center team,” says Jussi Alilehto, Sweco’s Leading Expert in HVAC Design<\/strong>. Sweco was responsible for the architectural and structural design of the data center as well as HVAC, electrical and building automation design.<\/p>\n

Free cooling of the data center is energy-efficient<\/h2>\n

Climate responsibility was emphasized in the design of the data center. The most essential thing was to solve the cooling need in an energy-efficient way.<\/p>\n

“Data center cooling can be done with free cooling, which utilizes outdoor air,” Alilehto says. Properly designed free cooling can significantly reduce electricity consumption. “On careful consideration, free cooling works in the Finnish climate for most of the year, which means that compressors may not be needed much.”<\/p>\n

All the electricity needed by the data center is generated by renewable wind power. In addition, the heat generated by cooling is recovered and recycled into the district heating network in the area. According to Alilehto, the system is designed to be flexible and easily scalable. “Other cooling methods can be used in the future.”<\/p>\n

Secure and reliable data center<\/h2>\n

Reliability guided the data center design from the very beginning. Electricity distribution has also prepared for exceptional situations, and fault tolerance has been raised to a high Tier III level. An automatic fire extinguishing system was designed for the data center that does not use any water.<\/p>\n

“An active gas extinguishing system ensures that even the smallest smoke particles are detected in time and the amount of oxygen in the data center is reduced to suppress the fire,” says Juuso Kohvakka, Head of Sweco’s Department of Electrical Engineering<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kinetic facade demonstrates data center innovation<\/h2>\n

The Air data center was designed in an existing industrial building, which was expanded with a new concrete section. The facade was intended to communicate the company’s image, such as innovation and responsibility. The result is startling.<\/p>\n

“The kinetic facade designed from aluminium sheets reacts to its surroundings and moves with the wind,” says Sweco’s architect Stefan Vara<\/strong>. A 3D model of the facade was created inspired by a site found in the United States. “We designed the final facade structures in close cooperation with Sweco’s structural designers and Alupro, which implemented the facade.”<\/p>\n

Special structural solutions are not limited to the facade. “A completely new steel hall was designed inside the old building as a kind of room-in-room solution,” says Sweco’s structural designer Iikka Ylih\u00e4rsil\u00e4<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Discover more!<\/h3> <\/div>\n \n
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Data Center Design<\/a><\/h4>