256MW London campus features four AI-ready data centers
LONDON – 6 November 2025
Global Technical Realty (GTR), a $1bn European build-to-suit data center platform, has today confirmed its plans to regenerate one of West London’s largest industrial estates following the recent approval of its planning application by Ealing Borough Council. Existing warehouses and workshops at the International Trading Estate in Southall will be replaced by four data center facilities, three industrial workspace campuses and a central pavilion for community use. The site, which covers 32.2 acres, was architecturally masterminded by Chetwoods Architects, specialists in the delivery of contemporary industrial and technology-led developments.
The state-of-the-art data center campus forms part of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), and the redevelopment work is expected to create between 1,030 and 1,120 full time permanent jobs, of which approximately 775 will be highly-skilled roles such as ICT technicians, network engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, and operations staff. 460 full time construction jobs, per year, will also be created during the build phase.
“The government’s decision to take a progressive approach to data center development reinforces the UK’s position on the global investment map,” said Franek Sodzawiczny, Founder and CEO at Global Technical Realty. “As AI adoption accelerates, data centers continue to drive employment opportunities and stand at the forefront of engineering innovation. The regeneration of the International Trading Estate in Southall comes at an exciting time for the data center sector overall and our news follows other, recent, substantial UK investment announcements. Combined, these not only reinforce confidence in the market, but they also highlight the UK’s growing strength as a critical business hub.”
“We are proud to support GTR as it delivers one of the most ambitious data center regeneration projects in the UK,” said Waldemar Szlezak, Partner and Global Head of Digital Infrastructure at KKR. “The development illustrates how data centers can unlock economic opportunity, create skilled jobs, and strengthen the digital backbone that underpins AI. With its strong focus on community impact, this project can serve as a model for future of digital infrastructure development across Europe.”
The data center campus
At the core of the development will be four data centers offering an impressive 256MW IT load. In line with GTR’s sustainability-first approach the design of the data centers prioritises operational efficiency. All benefit from energy-efficient waterless cooling solutions, and operating temperatures that maximise free cooling potential. Multiple heat recovery systems will also be introduced, utilising heat from the data centers to provide heat & hot water for the onsiteoffices and ancillary spaces within each data center, as well as exporting heat to all the new industrial buildings and pavilion. A wider community heat export capability also features in the design concept, with provision already made for connection to any future private, or borough-wide district heating networks.
The incoming N+N power supply is rated at 132KV, with the addition of several onsite power substations providing further infrastructure resilience.
Additional technical advancements on site include the flexibility for air-or water-cooled servers, and modern energy efficient industrial units, with affordable units available to benefit local startup companies. Low noise equipment has also been carefully selected to mitigate any impact on local facilities. Each industrial building has been designed with photovoltaic panels, optimised daylight penetration and high-performance materials, ensuring long-term sustainability and adaptability.
Community minded enhancements
Further afield, this investment from GTR also extends to enhance local community amenities. It supports improvements to drainage infrastructure, funds wider training initiatives and creates green pedestrian and cycle routesacross the site, as well as safely linking parts of the Borough that were not previously accessible. GTR will also manage enhancements to the Grand Union Canal tow path routes, including increasing lighting to improve safe use. Planting 153 new trees is also an important part of the regeneration work, alongside a commitment to achieving a site biodiversity net gain of 79.4%.
The first phase is expected to go live in 2030.