Pure DC and SEGRO Secure Approval for £1 Billion AI Data Centre in West London

Pure DC and SEGRO Forge Ahead with Major London AI Data Centre

March 26, 2026

In a significant move to address the critical shortage of high-capacity computing infrastructure in major European cities, Pure Data Centres Group (Pure DC) and real estate giant SEGRO have received final planning approval for a new 56-megawatt (MW) artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in West London. The joint venture project, located at Premier Park, represents a strategic response to the explosive demand for power-intensive AI and hyperscale cloud services in supply-constrained urban markets.

The development is the first milestone in a partnership that combines SEGRO’s portfolio of strategically located industrial sites within key connectivity and power zones with Pure DC’s expertise in designing and building large-scale data centre campuses. The collaboration specifically targets areas where land, power, and planning permissions are severely limited, aiming to unlock new capacity where it is needed most.

The Premier Park facility, spanning 24,000 square metres, is designed as a purpose-built, liquid-cooled environment to support high-density AI workloads, including advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI training and inference. It will be powered by approximately 70MVA of electrical capacity secured through a new substation and is targeting a highly efficient power usage effectiveness (PUE) of around 1.2. The closed-loop liquid cooling system is engineered to reuse coolant, ensuring consistent thermal management for dense server racks.

Gary Wojtaszek, Executive Chairman & Interim CEO of Pure DC, emphasized the project's strategic value, stating, “London is one of the most supply-constrained data centre markets in the world.” He highlighted the venture’s unique offering: “For cloud providers deploying the next generation of AI inferencing infrastructure, that level of immediate scale and resiliency is incredibly valuable.” The facility will form part of a wider, low-latency cluster of Pure DC locations across London, enabling a fully redundant three-site availability zone within the metropolitan area.

With a gross capital investment of approximately £1 billion (US$1.3 billion), the project is a major economic driver. Construction will support hundreds of jobs, and once operational, the campus, designated LON02, is projected to generate about £52 million (US$69.4 million) annually for the local economy and contribute £2.3 million (US$3.1 million) in business rates. Beyond infrastructure, the partners have committed over £3 million (US$4 million) to community initiatives, including a digital fund aimed at supporting 1,000 students in tech careers, assisting 150 local businesses with digital adoption, and training over 200 residents in digital skills.

David Sleath, CEO of SEGRO, noted, “The rapid growth of cloud computing and AI is driving unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure across Europe’s largest cities.” He added that the joint venture exemplifies how SEGRO’s land bank of over 2.5 gigawatts of powered sites can be leveraged with a specialist operator’s expertise “to unlock new opportunities and create long-term income and value.”

The project establishes a blueprint for how real estate developers and data centre operators can collaborate to overcome the complex barriers to building advanced digital infrastructure in dense urban cores, setting a precedent for future developments across Europe.

Source: datacentremagazine