‘Super-computing’ centre planned for Sci-Tech Daresbury Campus

A new ‘super-computing’ centre could be on its way to Sci-Tech Daresbury Campus after plans were lodged.The Science And Technology Faculties Council has submitted an application for the centre, which would provide 33,045 sq ft of floor space on vacant land south of the campus.The proposals seek to build a large, single storey building comprising of a data hall, offices, loading and other ancillary facilities. Covered plant spaces and an external plant are also included in the plans.The new facility is intended to replace an existing super-computing centre at Daresbury Laboratory, within the Sci-Tech Daresbury Campus.The application said the site is well established and has continued to develop and expand as part of the campus, meaning that the existing STFC Data Centre within the current laboratory site no longer meets current or future business needs.The application also said that the proposed development would enable STFC to remain at the “forefront” of large scale computing in the UK and would provide the “computational and supporting infrastructure” necessary to support the UK into the middle of the century.