Construction of NEXTDC’s $1 billion S3 data centre in Artarmon, Sydney is complete

Construction of NEXTDC’s $1 billion S3 Data Centre in Artarmon, Sydney is complete.

The facility, which was officially opened in September last year, has more than 26,000 square metres of data halls and ancillary infrastructure across nine levels, delivering more than 20,000 square metres of IT space.

Designed by Greenbox architects, S3 is the third data centre built by Multiplex for NEXTDC, and is connected to the company’s S1 and S2 data centres in Macquarie Park, as well as NEXTDC’s broader national digital infrastructure.

The data centres are Tier IV certified and government certified as strategic to manage and secure Australia’s critical digital infrastructure.

NEXTDC chief operating officer Simon Cooper said the completion of stage two allows NEXTDC to extend existing services and offer new innovations such as the customer experience auditorium and mission critical spaces.

He also said that it increased NEXTDC’s IT capacity and enhanced inter-connectivity to the company’s ecosystem of ICT partners, global cloud platforms and telecommunication providers.

Multiplex commenced the stage two works for the data centre in January 2022 and has reached completion two months ahead of schedule. This final stage delivered an additional 12,000 square metres of data hall space as well as expansion of the front of house and client spaces.

This stage spanned a total of 18 months, with an average of 350 construction workers onsite daily throughout the project. The NEXTDC S3 Sydney Data Centre Project employed more than 3,000 workers over the project’s duration.

Multiplex said that this stage was an achievement amidst supply chain delays and construction challenges, as the building had been occupied after stage one on the project.

Another challenge included lifting four 21.2 tonne on-site generators into the building prior to the completion of the Stage Two façade works.

According to Multiplex, these challenges were overcome by creating shared zones for construction access, restricting materials handling and re-sequencing construction works.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership with NEXTDC and complete this highly technical project. This strategic collaboration delivered on our shared vision to provide an innovative, world-class space for the rapidly evolving tech’ sector,” Multiplex NSW regional managing director David Ghannoum said.