Monthly Archives: February 2020

JCA is back at Data Centre World 2020!

Join us at the UK’s largest independent data centre event taking place on 11th and 12th March at ExCeL London. Data Centre World is attended by over 20,000 visitors, hundreds of leading data centres and technology providers and best practitioners.

JCA will be exhibiting at stand D1060. Come and join us to discuss the latest industry trends and services and find out how you could use our in-house services for your next project. If you’d like more information on the services we provide, head over to our Services page or visit our Portfolio for a range of case studies.

DCW is free to attend. Click below to register for your FREE ticket or visit DCW official website.

We hope to see you there!

We are pleased to announce that KAO Data Campus London One, designed and built by JCA, was awarded first place in the prestigious ASHRAE Technology Awards in the ‘Industrial facilities or processes’ category.

London One, the first building on the KAO Data Campus,  located on the 36-acre Kao Park development in the Harlow Enterprise Zone on the London-Stansted-Cambridge technology corridor has been operational since January 2018.

Energy consumption

The explosive growth of data is changing the world and as such the Data Centre industry is driven by the continuingly prodigious consumer demand for data; greater volumes of data and content, transmitted and received faster, whilst being stored indefinitely, facilitated by the technological advancements in the compute, storage and networking, required to meet the demand.

Data centres consume a tremendous amount of energy therefore a primary consideration for the design team was to ensure that the facility was as energy efficient as possible, especially as the power density of electronic equipment has been steadily increasing.

Energy efficiency

JCA has designed Kao Data London One to deliver market leading efficiency, with the innovative use of technical infrastructure and building engineering expertise to provide Kao Data with a product that provides the highest standard of efficiency, resilience, operational sustainability and connectivity.

JCA’s focus on delivering the highest levels of sustainability has also resulted in Kao Data London One achieving BREEAM Excellent Design Certification. Kao Data also maintains the internal environmental conditions to ASHRAE’s most‐stringent Class A1 Recommended Environment without the use of any mechanical refrigeration. This is unprecedented for a wholesale data centre in the UK.

ASHRAE Technology Awards

The ASHRAE Technology Awards program acknowledges, on an international scale, successful applications of innovative design, which incorporate ASHRAE standards for effective energy management, indoor air quality, and good mechanical design. The Awards recognize ASHRAE members who design and/or conceive innovative technological concepts that are proven through actual operating data.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a global society advancing human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. The Society and its more than 56,000 members worldwide focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. Through research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today.

The award will be presented during the Plenary Session of the Society’s Winter Meeting in Orlando, Florida on Saturday 1^st February.

For KAO Data’s full press release, please visit: Kao Data Wins Global ASHRAE Technology Award for ‘Industrial Facilities and Processes’.

For more information about ASHRAE: https://www.ashrae.org/

For more information about our design and engineering services please visit the Services section or to find out more about some of our recent projects, view our Portfolio.

At JCA we are passionate about what we do and the diversity of our people. We support apprenticeships as they assist our talent strategy and allow us to recruit, retain and develop those who want to progress their careers and be equipped with skills for life. We ensure that both the educational and work activities are planned well in advance for our apprentices, so that joining us is a great experience.  

Introducing apprentices to all areas of the business and ensuring that all expectations are achieved are vital in the first few months to continue with the development of our new employees. It is a momentous journey and a great opportunity so we heavily invest our time and resources to create the best possible outcomes for our apprentices.

Meet our apprentice

To celebrate this year’s National Apprenticeships Week, we caught up with Jack Kemp, our Building Services Apprentice to find out why he decided to start an apprenticeship and how he’s been enjoying it so far. Jack works at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, one of JCA’s resident maintenance sites in London. The estate includes the main site at Fulham Road as well as several smaller clinics in the area. Service provision includes planned preventive, reactive and building maintenance, external areas maintenance, energy and utility maintenance, fire safety systems and procedures, the estate’s emergency and contingency planning, and statutory testing and is delivered by a team of around 30 engineers.

Jack, what made you want to start an apprenticeship in the first place? I wanted to do an engineering apprenticeship because I think this is the best way to get into an interesting line of work.

And why did you decide to choose JCA? I had an opportunity to speak to some of the company’s senior management and expressed an interest in engineering. They told me about JCA and the things they do and suggested that I come to JCA and have an interview with the team to see if this was something I wanted to pursue.

What was JCA’s communication like prior to you starting your apprenticeship?  JCA has been incredible right from the start, keeping me in the loop about what my course was and how it was developing. Emma Lee, our Organisational Development Lead, was particularly amazing, doing an incredible amount of work to get everything flowing smoothly.

How is the structure for your college learning so far? My college course so far has covered such a wide range of subjects from soldering tiny PCB boards to turning intricate parts on a lathe. I am currently doing a series of assessed tasks, now building up to my L2 Mechatronics qualification which I will have completed in June.

How did you enjoy the onsite experience at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before starting the college course? Being at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before starting college set me up for the things I was going to be learning. Before working at JCA, I had no real knowledge and understanding of the things that go into engineering.  Everyone on site was extremely helpful explaining how things worked and showing me around the hospital.

And finally, how is the first year of college going? My first year of college is going extremely well. All my teachers are fantastic, ranging from an ex Formula 1 mechanics to a former aerospace electronics engineer. The facilities at Oaklands College are amazing. In my first couple of months I have learnt how to create a piece on CAD, which then I used a 3D printer to bring it to life. 

If you are interested in becoming an engineering apprentice or would like more information on the apprenticeships scheme, get in touch with us – careers@jca.co.uk

For current vacancies and opportunities, including apprenticeships, please visit our Careers page.

For more information about JCA and our services, head over to Our services section.

To find out more about apprenticeships, visit the government’s website – Apprenticeships.