数据中心需要建筑风格吗？
Do we need architecture?
译 者 说
在很多人看来，数据中心建筑是一些色彩灰暗，外观低调的工业厂房。然而，正如伦敦数据中心建筑展 “Power House”的策展人之一Tom Ravenscroft 所说：“数据中心是一代人中最重要和最有趣的新建筑类型。”将历史建筑遗产改造为数据中心的范例，从一个侧面告诉我们数据中心建筑所具有的独特价值。
数据中心有工作要做。为什么它们必须看起来不错？
Data centers have a job to do. Why do they have to look good as well?
March 22, 2022 ByPeter Judg
数据中心建筑并不太讨人喜欢。它们通常会被忽视。如果人们意识到它们并发表任何评论意见的话，那最可能也是一种嘲讽。“数据中心就像神秘的办公室，”Tom Ravenscroft 说。这实际上是一种恭维，因为 Ravenscroft 是少有数据中心建筑爱好者。但最大的建筑与设计杂志 Dezeen的编辑喜欢的是数据中心建筑令人不安的陌生感和矛盾性。
Data center buildings don’t get much love. They are often unnoticed and invisible. If people ever become aware of them and make any comment at all, it is most likely a sneer."Data centers are like uncanny offices," says Tom Ravenscroft.That’s actually a compliment, because Ravenscroft is a rare example of a data center architecture fan. But what the editor of Dezeen, the largest architecture and design magazine, likes is their unsettling strangeness, their contradictions.
神秘的办公室
Uncanny offices
作为一名建筑系学生，Ravenscroft 的硕士项目是探索伦敦隐藏的数据中心，其灵感来自于他在伦敦南部Lewisham 看到的一座建筑。
As an architecture student, Ravenscroft’s Master's project was an exploration of London's hidden data centers, sparked by seeing a building in Lewisham, South London.·
图1：位于伦敦的花旗银行数据中心大楼
六层楼的大楼有窗户，看起来像是某种枯燥乏味的办公大楼。但是透过窗户看不到有任何活动，没有工作人员来来往往，停车场也没有汽车。
The six-story block had windows and looked like some sort of uninspiring office block. But windows were blank, no staff came and went, and there were no cars in the car park.
他发现这是花旗银行的伦敦数据中心，后来他开始寻找隐藏在伦敦各处的数据中心。（记录他旅程的 Wordpress 博客仍然可访问），并且他徒步旅行参观了伦敦的数据中心部门。
He found out this was Citibank’s London data center, and he began to uncover data centers hidden all over London. The Wordpress blog documenting his travels is still available, and he has led walking tours of London’s data center sector.
“这些建筑物有反光窗，它们很脏且不容易引人注意，”他在伦敦的一个关于数据中心建筑的展览上说。“然而，它们具有很高的安全性。”在Ravenscroft 看来，城市数据中心努力想要成为隐姓埋名的建筑物，这一点是毫无疑问的。
"These buildings have reflective windows, they are dirty and they look neglected,” he said at a London exhibition about data center architecture. “And yet, they have high security."Ravenscroft sees urban data centers as buildings trying so hard to be anonymous they are unmistakable.
建筑获胜者
Architecture winner
其他人则发现数据中心值得喜爱的另一些事情。DCD 已向美丽数据中心或具有独特建筑价值的数据中心颁发了一系列奖项。
Others find things to like about data centers. DCD has issued a series of awards to Beautiful Data Centers, or those with particular architectural merit.
图2 始建于1870年的阿什顿老浴场
如今其内部拥有一座面积为150平米包括36个机架的数据中心
今年的获胜者是位于英国大曼彻斯特的阿什顿老浴场，这是一座 19 世纪的市政公共室内游泳池，最初由 Paull 和 Robinson 设计，在泰姆赛德地方议会将其改建为科技中心之前，它已关闭并空置了40 年。它拥有 10,000 平方英尺的办公和共享办公空间，以及一个 200kW的数据中心。
This year’s winner was Ashton Old Baths in Greater Manchester UK, a 19th-century municipal public swimming bath, originally designed by Paull and Robinson, which was closed and lay empty for 40 years, before Tameside Council converted it into a tech hub, with 10,000 sq ft of office and coworking space, and a 200kW data center.
由于某种原因使得数据中心难以安装，成品看起来也很特别。该建筑因其建筑价值被英国遗产委员会列为二*级，与伦敦标志性的巴特西发电站相同。正因如此，对数据中心建筑商的行为作出了严格限制。
The finished product looks special because of a factor that made the data center difficult to install. The building is Grade II* listed by Historic England for its architectural merit, putting it on a par with the iconic Battersea Power Station in London. That put a strict limit on what the data center builders could do.
“作为工程师，我们试图到处为管道开孔诸如此类，”建造阿什顿老浴场数据中心的Sudlows公司的数据中心设计师Zac Potts说。“我们必须满足工程建设方面的要求，以及由于建筑遗产保护带来的限制，”他说。“我们需要在建筑物中开孔穿洞，但我们必须在原有的门窗内工作，以便在不损坏现有建筑物的情况下实现业务路由进出。”
“As engineers we tend to try and put holes everywhere for ducts and so forth,” says data center designer Zac Potts, at Sudlows, the firm that built the Ashton Old Baths data center.“We had to meet the requirements of the engineering perspective, and restrictions imposed because of the building’s heritage,” he said. “We needed apertures and penetrations cut out of the building, but we had to work within the original windows and doors to route services out without damaging what is left of the building.”
规划受到了限制：“在管道工程建设中我们不能出现意外。所有的管道系统都必须精心规划。“我们必须将信息发送给遗产保护团队，并且需要克服许多障碍。每个细节都必须得到批准。”
There were restrictions on planning: “We couldn’t drop surprises with our ductworks. All the penetrations had to be planned out quite meticulously."We had to send information through to the heritage team, and there were lots of hoops to jump through. Every detail had to be approved.”
图3 浴场建筑内巨大的橡木方舟结构
市议会的遗产团队对保护现有建筑很敏感，并强调一切改造都必须与建筑现有色彩和风格保持协调。为满足这些要求，建筑师 MCAU 设计了一个独立式木制“方舟”结构，该机构独立于建筑外壳，并容纳新的办公空间和数据中心。Sudlows 和工程师必须与建筑师密切合作才能使其发挥作用。
The Council’s heritage team were keen to prevent damage to the existing building, and make sure everything had to balance with the existing colors and styles.To meet these demands, architects MCAU designed a freestanding wooden “ark” structure independent of the building shell to hold the new office space and the data center.Sudlows and the engineers had to work closely with the architects to make it work.
旧的更好吗？
Is old better?
DCD 入围名单中的许多数据中心都安装在已有空间中，面临限制和机遇，他们必须努力做到最好。
Many of the data centers that feature on DCD’s award shortlists were installed in existing spaces, where they had to make the best of the limitations and opportunities.
图4 圆形玻璃墙的会议室可以俯瞰班霍夫数据中心的一排排服务器
在斯德哥尔摩，班霍夫的 Pionen 数据中心将一个前核掩体变成了一个光彩照人的高科技巢穴，就像007电影中大反派的巢穴一样。
In Stockholm, Bahnhof’s Pionen data center turned a former nuclear bunker into a glossy lair high-tech lair worthy of a James Bond villain.
图5 位于Torre Girona教堂大玻璃罩内的巴塞罗那超算中心，包括1.4MW容量的48个机柜。数据中心和教堂原貌在这里得到完美结合。“人类一思考，上帝就发笑”，但是据说在这里，人类可以在最接近上帝的地方思考。
MareNostrum 超级计算机将其服务器机架安放在巴塞罗那加泰罗尼亚理工大学校园内一座 19 世纪暖色调石头教堂中。而另一座教堂——利兹的塞勒姆教堂，变成了一座数据中心，服务器安装在旧礼拜空间的底层。阳台保留了下来，变成了一个会议礼堂，透过新的玻璃吊顶可以俯瞰数据中心。
The MareNostrum supercomputer nestles its server racks into the warm-hued stones of a 19th-century church, on the campus of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona.Another church, the Salem Chapel in Leeds, became a data center where the servers are installed on the ground floor of the old worship space. The balcony was kept, and turned into a conference auditorium, looking down on the data center through a new glass ceiling.
但被改造利用的只是极少数的数据中心。更多的是必须满足多种需求的新建筑。它们必须适应周围环境，满足规划法规，还要取悦当地居民——同时还要满足数据中心的技术要求。在这一切的基础上，他们必须满足预算。建筑师是其中的重要组成部分。
But retrofits are a tiny minority of data centers. Vastly more are in new buildings, which have to meet multiple demands.They have to fit in with their surroundings, satisfy planning regulations, and also please any local residents - all alongside the need to satisfy the technical requirements of the data center. And underlying all that, they have to meet a budget. Architects are a big part of that.
一种新的建筑形式？
A new building type?
图6 数据中心建筑展“Power House”展会上正在发言的Clare Dowdy
“数据中心为现代生活提供动力，但它们很少被视为建筑的一部分，”最近在伦敦画廊举办的数据中心建筑展“Power House”的策展人Clare Dowdy 说。“但随着它们在全球范围内迅速发展，现在，我们需要将数据中心视为一种独特的、特别具有挑战性的新的建筑类型了。”
"Data centers power modern life and yet they’re rarely considered as pieces of architecture," said Clare Dowdy, curator of the recent London gallery exhibition of data center architecture, Power House."But as they mushroom across the globe, it’s time we thought of data centers as a peculiar, and peculiarly challenging, new building typology."
与大多数数据中心建设者一样，Potts 的目标更为低调：“新建的数据中心通常是非常‘棒’的建筑，但从建筑的角度来看，它们通常相当低调。”
Potts, like most data center builders, has more modest aims: “Newly-built data centers, are usually pretty ‘nice’ buildings, but from an architectural point of view they are normally fairly understated.”
年轻的科技公司可能想要一座最先进的建筑，但他们不想炫耀他们的数据中心。他们希望建筑不引人注意，部分是出于安全原因，因此它不会引起破坏者、恐怖分子或环保积极人士的注意。这就是 Ravenscroft 所说的“神秘办公室”效应的根本原因。
Young tech companies may want a state-of-the-art building, but they don’t want to show off their data center.They want the building discreet, partly for security reasons, so it doesn’t attract attention from vandals, terrorists, or environmental activists. That’s the fundamental reason for the “uncanny office” effect noted by Ravenscroft.
图7 阿什顿老浴场数据中心屋面的空调室外机，设备的围护结构与建筑外观风格一致。
出于审美原因，建筑单体形式也很重要，特别是在城市地区，人们抬头就能看到建筑物，没有哪个运营商愿意自己的建筑鹤立鸡群。
A discrete look is also important for aesthetic reasons, particularly in urban areas where people will see the building. No operator wants to alienate its neighbors.
Potts说，在工程和“朴素”的建筑外观需求之间存在一种矛盾：“我们如何将柴油发电机和冷水机组等设备与朴素的建筑外观结合起来？我们还必须考虑气流和声学设计。”
There’s a tension between the engineering demands and the need for a ‘plain’ look, says Potts: “How do we integrate things like diesel generators and chillers with a plain.
图8 Google数据中心壁画项目，由艺术家Jenny Odell签名的色彩鲜明的壁画展示了数据中心内部正在发生的事情，也让数据中心建筑不再是一个个灰色盒子。
一位优秀的建筑师将能够与工程师密切合作，并且可能会让他们感到惊讶：“从工程的角度来看，我们会说我们需要什么，”Potts说。“他们通常可以把它整合起来，做成一些特别的东西。他们将与彩色、线条和外形结合在一起，创造出你无法想象的东西。”
A good architect will be able to work closely with the engineers, and may surprise them: “From an engineering point of view we say what we need,” says Potts. “They can usually integrate that and make it into something special. They will work with colors, lines, and the edges, to produce something you wouldn’t have envisaged.”
他说：“我们从简洁的线条和对称性开始。建筑在此基础上更上一层。”做过类似项目的建筑师应该能够帮助解决建筑物的热性能等限制，使其符合法规并有效运行。他们还可以带来新的理念。
He says: “We start with clean lines and symmetry. Architecture adds an extra layer on that.” Architects who have done similar projects should be able to help with constraints like the thermal performance of the building, so it meets regulations and operates efficiently. They can also add fresh ideas.
“与优秀的建筑师合作真的很有帮助，”Potts说。“我们专注于数据中心方面。对数据中心有一定了解的建筑师可以在早期阶段参与项目并加入这些交流对话。
“Working with a good architect really helps,” says Potts. “We focus on the data center aspect. An architect with some understanding of data centers can be involved at the very early stages and engage in those conversations.
一名优秀的建筑师可以发现一些容易被忽视的机会——反之，还可以对数据中心在多用途建筑或大型开发项目中的位置布局提出建议。Potts 说：“设计师可以有机会规划废热再利用，或者减少管道布设和维护的负担，商业地产的数据中心常常会陷入最尴尬的境地。
A good architect might spot opportunities that could be missed otherwise - perhaps suggesting where a data center should go within a mixed-use building, or where to place it in a large development.“There can be opportunities for heat reuse, or for mitigating where pipes and maintenance go,” says Potts. “Often data centers on a commercial estate can get tucked away into the most awkward position.”architectural look? We also have to provide airflow and acoustics.”
图9建筑融入其周围环境的一个重要方面是确保外观的吸引力。德国施耐德+舒马赫建筑师事务所设计的全球首个高层数据中心——深圳前海信息枢纽大厦，创造性设计的波动幕墙外立面体系，创造了一个生动而具有互动性的数据主题立面外观，该项目获得RTFA2021工业建筑（概念）一等奖。
尽早让建筑师参与其中，可有助于确保项目合理设计：“他们会考虑工程建设以外的事情，”他说。“我们的希望是通过数据中心的存在，提升区域价值，而不是降低它。”
Getting the architect in early can help make sure the project fits: “They will consider things other than the engineering,” he says. “Our aspiration is to improve the area, through its presence. Rather than detract from it.”
图10 魁北克计算中心改建于一座始建于1965年的粒子加速器竖筒型建筑。改建过程中在建筑内新建了三层钢结构，安装了56台机柜。建筑内大量的强弱电配管采用明敷设方式安装。
预算可能是一个问题：“如果你设计为完全裸露的结构，你最终会得到一座丑陋的建筑，对这个区域没有太多裨益，”Potts说。相比之下，一个有吸引力的科技中心可以吸引其他建筑和企业与之合作。“这就是为什么总体规划师和开发商非常关注这些问题的原因，”他说。“只看利润，你可能会造出一个灰色的盒子，但这无益于周边区域，所以你需要考虑做点其他事情。”
Budget can be an issue: “If you boil down to the absolute bare bones, you would end up with an ugly building with not much consideration for the area,” says Potts. By contrast, an attractive tech hub can encourage other buildings and businesses to work together.“That’s why there’s a lot of focus from master planners and developers,” he says. “Just look at the margins, and you might bet a gray box, but that doesn’t improve the area so you need to look at doing something else.”
但那些“事情”是什么，尚无定义。有一种“工业裸露风”的潮流，整个商用空间都有裸露的管道和线缆。但数据中心运营商不希望这样做，除非是在实用性压倒一切的建筑物内部。
What that something is, is undefined. There’s been a trend for “exposed services” which leads to visible ducts and cables all over retail spaces. But data center operators don’t want that, except in the inside of the building where practicality is all that matters.
图11 韩国云巨头 Naver建设的数据中心Gak（阁）。该数据中心建筑由隈研吾+DMP综合建筑事务所设计，风格参照18世纪朝鲜王朝的皇家图书馆奎章阁，极具传统艺术气息。建筑宽度保证了散热效果，建筑围护结构很好地遮盖了室外机电设施。
从外观上看，通常没有太多预算用于奢华的装饰，但强烈希望将对建筑物的影响降到最低，并且这通常会掩盖其技术特征：“百叶窗和围护结构可以确保柴油机和冷水机组很好地集成在一起。”建筑物周边也可能有一些景观美化，将无处不在的安全围栏与园林草坪景观相结合。
On the outside, there’s usually not much budget for extravagant decorations, but a strong desire to minimize the impact of the building and, usually, to obscure its technical nature: “Louvers and cladding can make sure the diesels and chillers are integrated in well.”There is also likely to be some landscaping around the buildings, combining the ubiquitous security fencing with a screen of trees and some grassed banks.
“我们关注工程限制条件，”Potts 说，“但它让我们实现协调并确保数据中心不局限于IT层面，要看到为区域创造提升的潜力，而不仅仅是从中获益。”
“We focus on the engineering constraints, says Potts, “but it’s about achieving a balance and making sure the data center looks beyond the IT, to see the potential for creating improvement to the area, instead of just taking from it.”
深 知 社
翻译：
何海
DKV（DeepKnowledge Volunteer）计划创始成员
校对：
Plato Deng
深知社数据中心高级研究员 /DKV计划创始成员
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