In September, we broke ground on our new data center in Singapore, our first custom-built data center in Asia. Planning a hyperscale data center for a small island nation presented new opportunities for both design innovation and efficiency. Joining our portfolio of hyperefficient facilities, the Singapore data center was designed from the ground up with features that minimize the use of land, energy, and water.
When siting data centers, we look for locations with robust infrastructure, an excellent local talent pool, and great community partners. We found all three in Singapore and worked closely with local partners to tailor the building design to Singapore’s unique operating environment.
Singapore sits on an area of about 720 square kilometers — approximately 178,000 acres — which is smaller than the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Building and operating a hyperscale data center in a city-state that small limits the amount of land, water, and other resources that can be used. To conserve space, the Facebook design team went vertical, developing the design for an 11-story building that will sit on 12 acres of land in Singapore’s Tanjong Kling Data Center Park.
Upon completion, the 170,000-square-meter building will be a candidate for the world’s largest data center under one roof. The building will be supported on drilled concrete piles, some as wide as 1.6 meters, with reinforced concrete columns, beams, and hollow-core concrete slabs. A perforated lightweight material used on the building’s façade will allow airflow and provide glimpses of the state-of-the-art mechanical equipment inside. The office area will use floor-to-ceiling window glazing to maximize daylight and the views beyond the Sungei Lanchar waterway; balconies with vegetation will punctuate the building’s façade. The orientation of the entire building was changed to better align the exterior greenery with neighboring Jurong Hill, contributing to Singapore’s status as the Garden City.