As Hochtief buys land outside Munich for Edge facility
German construction firm Hochtief is launching a division in the UK to build out its own fleet of data centers.
ACS-owned Hochtief PPP Solutions this week announced the establishment of Hochtief Data Center Partner Limited in the UK.
Led by Warren Taylor, the company said the new unit’s goal is to build a “robust network of high-performance, sustainable, and regionally integrated data centers” across the British Isles under its Yexio and Yorizon platforms. Further details weren't shared.
Taylor told Construction Enquirer: “With the backing of the global Hochtief Group, we have access to a wealth of expertise and resources – putting us in a strong position to deliver this urgently needed critical infrastructure in cities across the UK and Ireland.”
Taylor joins from UK developer Cityheart, where he was COO. Cityheart is primarily focused on residential communities and commercial developments.
ACS is a Spanish infrastructure development firm, best known in the US as the owner of Turner Construction. The company owns or has stakes in other firms such as Dragados, CIMIC, Leighton Asia, and Ventia. Data center clients include Meta and Vantage.
Traditionally known as a construction firm taking on projects for clients, ACS has recently pivoted to developing its own data centers that can be leased or sold to customers.
The company has acquired land and/or filed for data center campuses in Spain and the US. It claims to have a potential development pipeline totaling around 5GW globally. In Germany, its Hochtief unit is developing its own Edge facilities.
Hochtief has partnered with investment firm Palladio Infrastructure and server maker Thomas-Krenn.AG to develop a new fleet of data centers and a cloud provider to operate out of them.
Hochtief is working with the Palladio infrastructure fund to develop up to 15 liquid-cooled Edge data centers under the Yexio name in Germany. The construction firm is working with Thomas-Krenn to launch cloud provider Yorizon Cloud.
The modular facilities are reportedly using timber and offer 2MW, expandable to 4MW. Hochtief has broken ground on Yexio data centers in Bad Lippspringe and Essen, with the latter due live this year. Another is reportedly in the works in Brake, and sites are potentially planned in Austria and Switzerland.
The company said this week it and Palladio have signed a land purchase agreement for a site in Dorfen (Erding district near Munich). Set on 7,500 square meters (80,730 sq ft), work on the Yexio facility is set to start in Spring 2026 and go live in mid-2027.
“These projects make a significant contribution to the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, to strengthening regional data processing capabilities, and to achieving modern urban development and climate goals,” said Bernd Holtwick, member of the management board at Hochtief PPP Solutions.
