AM4 – Temple of the 21st Century
AM4 is Equinix’s second data center on the Amsterdam Science Park.The campus processes about 38 percent of all Dutch data traffic.
The design is of Benthem Crouwel Architects. ”For data centers to gain social acceptance in cities, we must make sure their aesthetics relate to their surroundings.”
“We designed a canal as the first layer of safety, a more friendly alternative to barbed wire fences. Employees and visitors then go through an identity checkpoint in a light and spacious lobby. To reach the data center, the visitor walks over a bright red bridge which marks the passage to a strictly secured area. After scanning fingerprints, one enters the ‘white space’, where the servers are located. It is a totally different experience from being in a converted warehouse, the type of building mostly used for data centers. The exterior is grand, clean and cool: it resembles a large hard disk, with horizontal slants passing the air from the cooling system. The high-rise building is made of triangular aluminum profiles, which are black on one side and silver on the other, and become more narrow in the top – an optical illusion that makes the tower look slimmer.
AM4 is equipped with energy storage systems. When heat is generated, it provides heat for other buildings at Amsterdam Science Park. When less server space is needed, the facades can easily be replaced, and the building can be easily transformed into a laboratory, office and/or apartments.
More Benthem Crouwel Architects > 04.01.2016 / 25.12.2016
Photos: Jannes Linders