Shaw Architects Sdn Bhd.

Sora Data Centre

SORA DATA CENTRE

Shaw Architect

Sora Data Centre
Courtesy of Shaw Architect

LOCATION
Selangor, Malaysia

ARCHITECTS
Shaw Architect

PHOTOGRAPHY
H. Lin Ho, Leang Wai Loon

PROJECT YEAR
2017

PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT
Ho Shaw Chin

AREA
5094.0 m2

M+E ENGINEER
D&O Konsultant Sdn Bhd

C+S ENGINEERS
RS Elite Consult Sdn Bhd/ MOK Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd

BUILDING OWNER
NTT MSC Sdn Bhd

CIVIL ENGINEER
RS Elite Consult Sdn Bhd/ MOK Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd

PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT
Ho Shaw Chin

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
RS Elite Consult Sdn Bhd/ MOK Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd

CATEGORY
Institutional Buildings

MANUFACTURERS
MML, Pentens,  SKK

CONTRACTOR
Nakano Construction Sdn Bhd

DATA CENTER CONSULTANT
C2 Consult Sdn Bhd

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
Courtesy of Shaw Architect

SORA

The new Office and Data Center (DC) block, Sora, is located in Cyberjaya, the center of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia.

Sora Data Centre
Courtesy of Shaw Architect
Sora Data Centre
Courtesy of Shaw Architect

It is an expansion plan of a building owner, NTT MSC Sdn. Bhd. NTT MSC is a subsidiary of NTT Communications, the international and long-distance arm of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), the largest telecommunications company in Japan and a leading global provider of information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions.

The new block is named after a Japanese word Sora (空) which means “sky” in Japanese.

Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon

Sora, metaphorically speaking, is to provide high-level monitoring services like “an eagle’s eye view”.

Sora is the central ‘gateway’ to link all existing and future DCs on NTT’s existing campus.

It would become the main node for employees and visitors to congregate before moving on to their respective directions.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon

DYNAMIC SPACE

Sora is formed by two rectangular boxes, namely Office Block in front and DC at the rear of the building.

In order to bring natural light into the deep and long Office Block, garden spaces are looped into the office area on both sides.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon

The bigger loop forms a curvilinear garden in the Office Lounge, breaking the monotonous flow of the rectangular straight space and becoming the focal point of the lounge area.

This gesture surprises visitors who would never expect to be greeted with a dynamic spatial experience within a straight-looking building.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho

BUILDING ENVELOPE

The building is mainly constructed with 4 materials in varying levels of opacity – concrete, bricks, glass, and metal.

They are used for the different degree of enclosures to suit the function of the spaces within.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho

Office areas and meeting rooms are almost completely glazed with glass and metal to bring in natural lighting and maximizing views.

However, delicate rooms such as DC, Integrated Operation Centre (IOC) and Proof of Concept & Innovative Lab (POC), have minimal openings or none at all for thermal, moisture, solar control.

Concrete and double-layer brick walls are used to enclose them.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho

The different opacity of the materials creates a series of open and enclosed spaces throughout the building.

ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE

Japanese aesthetic inspires the architectural language of the overall building exterior and interior.

Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho

It emphasizes simple lines with attention to details and intricacy.

Neutral palettes are used, which include off-white, champagne, beige, brown and black.

Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho
Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho

Japanese traditional house materials and components such as timber, bamboo louvers, Shoji screen and courtyard garden are reinterpreted into contemporary elements throughout the building.

Window frames are protruded to imitate Japanese window screens to provide shade and privacy.

Sora Data Centre
© H. Lin Ho
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon

Translucent Shoji screen is translated into a frosted glass that is applied along floor slab line to obscure building structures and services.

Bamboo fence is reinterpreted into vertical rhythmic louvers to screen-off AC compressors on the external walls of the DCs.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon

The louvers are repeated in a group of 4, coated in a gradual champagne gold color, imitating bamboo shades, to give rhythm, dynamism, and depth to DC façade.

Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon
Sora Data Centre
© Leang Wai Loon


Sora Data Centre
Sectional Perspective
Sora Data Centre
Design Stretegy


Sora Data Centre
Ground floor plan
Sora Data Centre
Mezzanine floor plan


Sora Data Centre
Section 1 And North Elevation
Sora Data Centre
Section 2 East Elevation


Sora Data Centre
Details

Shaw Architects Sdn Bhd.
T +60 3 78861191
Shaw Architects Sdn Bhd.
A-11-3A, TOWER A, THE TUBE, JALAN PJU1/37, Dataran Prima, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia