Public-Sector Data Center Design, Ghana

UBIK was appointed in 2026 for the concept and schematic design of a new data center in Ghana. The facility carries the security and continuity requirements of a public-sector client, integrates zones of very high density up to 45 kW per rack, and sits on a constrained site. UBIK’s design covers every discipline. The client’s identity and the capacity of the facility are withheld.

The facility

A public-sector data center is designed for continuity of service and for physical and procedural security. The resilience objective is written in Tier terms so that every power and cooling path can be taken out of service with the load supported. The security design layers the perimeter, the building, the halls and the rows, and the operating model is designed into the building rather than added by procedure.

The high-density zones are designed around close-coupled cooling and containment, with distribution to the row sized for the density. The site constrains the generator yard, the fuel, the heat rejection and the logistics, so the plot is tested at the final phase on a test-fit before the building’s footprint is fixed.

Scope

• Design basis: the load profile by hall and zone, the resilience objective, the security tiers, the environmental envelope and the climate design conditions.
• Concept and schematic design of the electrical system: utility intake, standby generation and fuel autonomy, UPS, distribution to the rows, with the maintenance and failure states drawn out.
• Concept and schematic design of the cooling system: central plant staged with the load, chilled-water distribution, close-coupled cooling for the high-density zones.
• Fire protection, security, low-current and telecommunications coordination, and the technical spaces of the building.

What the work has to resolve

The hardest constraints are on the plot. Heat rejection needs airflow and separation from the generator exhausts; the generator yard needs fuel storage, access and distance from the public edge; the substation and the logistics route need their own space; and the building has to grow in step with the client’s systems without a second plot. The test-fit at the final phase sets the footprint, and it is produced before the schematic design is developed.

The design is in progress. The site, the design and the client’s requirements are not published.