Interxion Data Centre Comes Back
David Knight
There is currently a pre-planning application exhibition in the Truman
Brewery Boilerhouse from Interxion, the company behind the last data
centre proposal for the corner of Spital Street and Buxton Street. Get
there ASAP if you want to, I think it closes tomorrow.
The application has changed since we last saw it, and to be absolutely
fair it has taken account of some issues. It has a (small) mixed-use
presence on Buxton Street and a main entrance on the corner. The
building is a weird collage of pastiche styles with some green walls
facing on to Spital Street. Aesthetically a mish-mash but that's small
fry as the height is still a major issue. The building will be a few
centimetres lower than Stuttle House, so more than twice the height of
the current party wall. Shadows onto Allen Gardens would increase
accordingly. Obviously the team at the exhibition disputed this, and the
idea that the centre's cooling fans might cause noise pollution.
I've attached a picture of Buxton Street which I took today at at just
before 4pm. The shadow cast by the boundary wall on the right would be
more than twice as long, surely covering up the 'lovely' new stone
ornament on the corner and stretching almost to the old vicarage.
There's my view. This loss of natural light etc. seems too big a price
to pay for what is essentially a "sizeable building" in the architect's
own words populated almost entirely by machines, with no word on what
the tiny 'mixed use' frontage at ground level might be used for.
So there we go!
David
--
DAVID KNIGHT
da...@dk-cm.com
www.dk-cm.com
+ 44 (0) 7855 480 735
