The State of Oregon’s Central Computer Facility in Salem, Ore., consolidates 12 independent data centers into one that is highly reliable and available, with greater security and redundant infrastructure to support data processing. There are four primary program elements—the data center, infrastructure, administration, and the service area.

Sited carefully above the banks of a nearby creek, the facility is an elegant expression of technical function and environmental sensitivity. Enclosed within a taught metal skin, the primary program elements are arranged according to function, adjacencies and security. The facility provides highly reliable, available data processing with redundant infrastructure systems designed to minimize down time and ensure that the processing load can be accommodated. The design achieves clarity at every scale, from spatial organization and articulation of primary elements to careful detailing.

Compactly arranged at the western edge of its site, the Central Computer Facility sits on a plinth three feet above the 100-year flood plain. Stormwater is directed away from the creek to a landscaped retention pond adjacent to the building entry and conference rooms. From the pond, water flows along a 300-foot-long bioswale, which also detains and treats stormwater from the linear parking area before it meets the creek.

Enclosed within a taught metal skin, the primary program elements – data center, infrastructure, administration and service areas – are arranged according to function, adjacencies and security. Eckert & Eckert Photography.

Employees and visitors ascend the building’s plinth by stair or ramp to the main entry, a triangular space created by two adjacent volumes — conference rooms on one side, and a long, narrow bar of open office space on the other. Floor-to-ceiling glazing reflects the public aspect of the conference and entry area. The large overhanging canopy anchors the building entry, while minimizing interior heat gain. Stretching along the south elevation, the shallow office volume is generously day-lit, with exterior sunscreens and interior light shelves to control sun penetration and internal skylights to reduce contrast and glare. Infrastructure and service areas, located along the north and west edges of the building, spatially enclose, operationally support, and physically secure the data center, which is constructed with 8-inch thick tilt-up concrete walls.

Contracted using a design-build delivery method, this mission critical facility was completed in just 13 months from Notice to Proceed to Final Completion with careful attention to design and quality during each phase.

Yost Grube Hall Project for State of Oregon Central Data Center

THE FACILITY WAS DESIGNED AND BUILT IN A DESIGN-BUILD PROCESS WITH THE FOLLOWING RESULTS:

• COMPLETION IN 13 MONTHS.
• 3 PERCENT BELOW BUDGET WITH NO DESIGN OR CONSTRUCTION QUALITY COMPROMISE.
• OPEN, DAYLIT DESIGN CONTRIBUTED TO LEED SILVER RATING.

HIGHLIGHTS OF DATA CENTER

• FUNDAMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE DUE TO PLANNING THAT ACCOMMODATES MULTIPLE EXPANSIONS.
• INFRASTRUCTURE IS IN PLACE WITHIN THE BUILDING’S SHELL ALLOWING FOR A TWO-FOLD INCREASE IN DATA PROCESSING CAPACITY.
• BUILDING SITING ALLOWS FOR AS MUCH AS 40 PERCENT EXPANSION OF BUILDING AREA.