Who We Are: Ark Data Centres

Ark Data Centres is a data centre developer, owner and operator. Ark was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Corsham. The business operates five data centre sites in the UK and provides buildings and infrastructure for commercial and public sector data operations.

Ark has developed the 38-acre Spring Park Campus over 15 years and has taken it through each stage of the planning process. The land was formerly in military use.

The business is a significant investor in Wiltshire and employs people across the area, whether directly or through key suppliers. Since 2015, Ark has been a partner in a joint venture called Crown Hosting to work with the UK Government in support of its varied data requirements. Crown Hosting has proven to save the public sector over £2 billion (and counting) while offering a 99% carbon reduction for all relocated services.

Why are data centres so important?

Data is central to nearly everything we do as a society. Recent growth in data consumption has been phenomenal: even reasonably historic figures suggest that on average Google processes more than 40,000 searches every second and that each minute 41,666,667 WhatsApp messages are sent, 52,083 users connect on Microsoft Teams, and 3.7m Mastercard and Visa transactions are made. The growth in data use is also expected to double every two years. Globally, the UK is a leader in datacentre provision.

Data centres provide these essential services – they are not just data stores but places where the latest technology is deployed to host and accelerate data processing and data management. In this way, data centres are critical national infrastructure (and were designated as such in September 2024) that bring data transmission, storage and management – together with the supporting networks – into general or conventional definitions of infrastructure.

What does Ark want to build in Corsham?

Ark is committed to continuing the development of its Spring Park site as a secure, sustainable data centre campus. This will continue to act as the platform for digital growth in the UK and progress and respond to the significant and rapidly growing need for additional capacity for data storage.

The best place to do this is as close to the existing campus as possible, and the proposed site is the best opportunity. Given the nature of the land uses surrounding the Spring Campus (with the Ministry of Defence operations to the north and east, and open countryside to the west), the land provides the only realistic site to deliver an adjacent expansion of the Data Centre Campus. Of course, there are also homes nearby. As outlined in the Key Issues section, we have used extensive planting to screen our buildings from our neighbours, and reduced the height of the proposed new building where it is closest to those homes.

The proposed development will be for Ark’s seventh data centre building (P6) and will comprise one data centre with ancillary office space, external roof plant and an associated service yard.

P6 will be significantly screened with extensive new planting and bunded landscape complementing the existing protected trees. High quality contemporary materials will provide a muted presence with the intention being that the visual appearance moves away from the industrial aesthetic of the existing campus.

NEXT STEPS

Now that Ark has submitted a series of additional, updated, detailed technical documents (which appear on the Council’s planning portal), we are continuing to engage with the local community and elected representatives. We also remain in active contact with council officers. A planning committee will decide on the application later in the year.

Please click on this link to view the planning application:

https://development.wiltshire.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0iQ3000006yo9lIAA/pl202405527?tabset-8903c=2

To read more about key issues — including drainage, noise and lighting, please use the button below.