In our team, we only ever apply technology when it is appropriate to the problem at hand.
Data centres have long been treated as one-off, large-scale engineering projects.However, Lincoln emphasises that Edged’s approach differs, likening these facilities to repeated products that can be continually refined.
'From day one at Edged, my role as Director of Design is really trying to develop our language - call it our ‘kit of parts’ - that is agnostic to site, that can address as much of the range of constraints a site can provide, and that allows us to have repeatable components we can manage, condition, and learn from as we deploy them in projects and see the site adaptation that occurs when we do that.'.By viewing each data centre as part of a coherent system, Edged can design and build with greater efficiency.Rather than starting from scratch for every project, the team focuses on standardising essential components, creating a ‘platform’ that allows for repeated deployments - each time with lessons learnt fed back into the model.. Why Industrialised Construction makes sense.
Traditional construction often requires multiple on-site trades performing one-off tasks, which can be time-consuming, costly, and prone to errors.In contrast, Lincoln points out that data centres, with their highly engineered interiors, are prime candidates for a more industrialised, standardised approach.
By developing a core ‘kit of parts’, Edged can:.
Streamline supply chains.Digital twins and federated digital twins will enable us to understand how things are actively performing..
Whereas, originally, this effort focused on the capital phase of a single construction project, with digital twins we’ll be dealing with the whole life of an asset, and how it relates to, and integrates with,its environment and the other assets around it.That level of data will provide huge knowledge and insight, which in turn will help us to make better decisions supporting our broader set of Design for Value outcomes.
We’ll be able to make decisions about how we want to intervene, and it could end up shaping the policy environment.That’s when we’ll really see the true power and value of data.. A Kit-of-Parts Approach and the Creation of a Digital Marketplace for Construction.