Precision cooling for data centre white space and CBD office conversions.
Twelve years of mechanical HVAC across server rooms and critical-load environments. Now plugging into the builder-side of Australia's data centre fitout market.
The market gap
A data centre mechanical space the hyperscale contractors won't touch and general HVAC firms can't deliver.
Australia's data centre pipeline is running hot. The work below the tier-one ceiling — single-hall white space fitouts, CBD office data hall conversions, server room and Edge data centre builds — is being squeezed between contractors who are too big to bid and contractors who are too generalist to commission.
The hyperscale mechanical contractors
The tier-one mechanical contractors chase hyperscale base-building packages and will not mobilise for single-hall white space work. The economics don't work for them.
General HVAC firms
Capable on comfort cooling and standard commercial mechanical. Not fluent in CRAC/CRAH selection, hot/cold aisle containment, N+1 redundancy, or the commissioning rigour a data hall needs.
Builder-side specialist
Mechanical sub-contractor to D&C builders delivering data centre fitouts and CBD conversions. Senior-led, technically literate on precision cooling, sized to actually deliver the work.
AI workloads are projected to drive 30 to 50 percent of data centre power demand by 2030. Cooling for GPU-dense racks at 50 kW per rack and above demands a different mechanical conversation than legacy server loads — and that conversation is where specialist precision cooling becomes a real differentiator.
Capability
Mechanical scope we deliver inside the data hall envelope.
Twelve years of precision cooling in Melbourne, with the technical vocabulary of the white space room. All work delivered to AS/NZS standards and NCC compliance requirements.
CRAC / CRAH installation
Computer room air conditioner and air handler placement, pipework, condensate, controls integration.
Hot / cold aisle containment
Containment systems sized to the rack layout, sealed for return-air isolation and PUE performance.
N+1 redundancy design
Concurrently maintainable mechanical configurations. Failover paths designed into the package, not bolted on.
Precision cooling commissioning
Documented commissioning to the room's load profile. Air balancing, temperature mapping, sign-off pack.
Server room cooling
Multiple server room builds over twelve years. Same technical principles as the data hall, smaller envelope.
Crypto farm experience
Multiple crypto mining facilities delivered. Cooling-critical, high-density — the closest analogue to white space outside a tier facility.
In-row cooling
Close-coupled cooling for higher density racks. Pipework, condensate, controls, integration with containment.
Integrated commissioning
Mechanical commissioning aligned with electrical, controls and witness testing. One package, one accountable lead.
Honest experience
The foundation we're building on — and what we won't pretend to have done.
Multiple server rooms
Delivered across twelve years of commercial and architectural mechanical work. Precision HVAC, controlled environments, same engineering principles as data hall white space at a smaller scale.
Multiple crypto mining facilities delivered
Cooling-critical, high-density heat loads. The builds closest in character to data centre white space we have on the books.
Twelve years of mechanical HVAC
High-end architectural residential and commercial mechanical. Senior-led delivery, documented commissioning, the trade discipline that translates directly into critical-environment work.
We have not delivered a hyperscale data centre. We are not claiming a data centre track record we don't have. The case for engaging us is a twelve-year HVAC foundation, fluency in the precision cooling vocabulary, and a senior-led team sized for the white space fitout and CBD conversion work the tier-one contractors won't quote.
We would rather earn the work on the honest version than win it on a stretched one.
What we don't do
The work we don't chase — and why that's a strength for the work we do.
A short list keeps a delivery team focused. Here's what's out of scope, deliberately.
Hyperscale base building
The tier-one contractors deliver these. Different scale, different procurement, different team.
Tier IV fully fault-tolerant builds
Tier IV sits with specialist contractors carrying that exact track record. Honest scope.
BMS systems work
Building management systems sit with controls specialists. We integrate to the BMS, we don't deliver it.
Open government tender work
Not where we generate value. We work through builders and consultants who know the team.
Everything else is on the table.
Builder-side mechanical for white space fitouts, CBD office data hall conversions, server rooms, Edge and small Retail Colo.
Where DC projects fail
Most data centre projects don't fail on the technology. They fail at the interfaces.
We've watched the same three failure patterns play out across mechanical fitouts. We work to avoid them.
Late commissioning
Most projects test each system in isolation in the final three weeks. We run integrated commissioning methodology from day one — mechanical, electrical, controls, fire suppression all proven together under load.
Scope gaps between civil and M&E
When civil and M&E are procured separately, cable routes clash with structure, plant rooms don't fit equipment, void depths don't match airflow design. We design civil-aware mechanical from the first drawing — scope boundaries are our problem to manage, not the builder's.
Power density miscalculation
Clients spec 10 kW per rack at tender. By fitout, the IT team has moved to GPU workloads demanding 40 kW per rack. The cooling design wasn't built for it. We design for where your IT team is going in three years, not just where they are today.
Project profile
The work we're configured to deliver.
A defined scope of mechanical fitout work where the team's size, technical depth and delivery discipline are matched to the project.
Tier III concurrently maintainable is the dominant tier across the Australian colocation market — and the tier we are configured to deliver against.
Mechanical packages sized for delivery without losing senior oversight.
CBD office data hall conversion
Melbourne CBD floors are being repurposed as data halls. We're set up for it.
Office vacancy across the Melbourne CBD has pulled a new opportunity into the data centre conversation. Vacant floors, often in buildings already specified for high-grade office cooling, are being assessed as candidate locations for Edge data halls and overflow colocation capacity.
Vacant CBD office towers often have chilled-water plant already rated for high-occupancy loads — existing infrastructure we can leverage to reduce capital cost and programme risk versus a greenfield facility. The fitout work is in the white space: CRAH integration, hot/cold aisle containment, redundancy, integrated commissioning — exactly where we sit.
Who we work with
Builder-side. Specifier-aligned. Operator-aware.
We engage upstream of the end client. The relationships that matter are with the builder, the consultant and the operator who actually procures the white space fitout.
D&C builders
Builders delivering data centre fitouts and CBD office data hall conversions. We come in as the mechanical sub on the package.
Specifying architects and consultants
Mechanical consultants and architects writing the spec. We're a known, technically literate contractor option for white space scope.
Colocation operators
Operators with white space fitout work too small for the hyperscale mechanical contractors. Direct engagement where appropriate.
Credentials and compliance
Licensed, accredited, compliant.
Mechanical work delivered to Australian standards, by industry-accredited tradespeople.
Licensed refrigerant handling.
Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating.
Member, Victorian Master Builders Association.
National Construction Code.
Australian and New Zealand mechanical standards.
Frequently asked
Questions builders, consultants and operators ask us first.
- What's the typical lead time on CRAC and CRAH units for a fitout?
- Sixteen to twenty-eight weeks for most precision cooling units from major manufacturers in current market conditions. We engage procurement at the design stage so lead time becomes a programme input, not a programme blocker.
- Can a vacant CBD office floor structurally take a raised-floor and IT load?
- Usually yes for offices designed to commercial high-occupancy loading. We run a structural and services audit early — slab capacity, riser availability, existing chilled-water provision, electrical reticulation — before committing to a fitout approach.
- What does a Tier III concurrently maintainable mechanical package actually include?
- Cooling capacity designed N+1 minimum, redundant distribution paths, isolation valves and dampers allowing any single component to be serviced without bringing the hall offline, and commissioning documentation that proves it. We design and document against the Uptime Institute Tier III standard.
- How do you handle commissioning on a live-environment fitout?
- Phased commissioning with isolation protocols, after-hours work where required, integrated witnessing with the operator's facilities team, and a documented sign-off pack at each milestone. Live-environment work needs different access protocols and risk management than greenfield — we plan for that from week one.
- Do you deliver building management systems or just integrate to them?
- We integrate to the BMS. Building management systems sit with dedicated controls specialists who carry the right software certifications and ongoing service relationships. Our mechanical scope is fully wired and documented for BMS integration, not BMS delivery.
Contact
Talk to us about a mechanical package.
Send the scope, the program and the building. We'll come back within a week with a view on whether it's a fit and what the mechanical package looks like.