Six Degrees: Birmingham Central

Birmingham Central is a flagship data centre facility operated by Six Degrees (6DG) in the heart of Birmingham, UK. Located adjacent to the city’s “Silicon Canal” tech corridor, it is strategically positioned to serve the underserved Midlands market and complement 6DG’s South Birmingham and London footprints. 

Its central location affords strong connectivity options, shorter latency to major business districts, and proximity to regional enterprises seeking lower-cost, resilient IT infrastructure. The facility underlines 6DG’s ambition to expand digital infrastructure beyond London and Manchester into the Midlands. 

⚙️ Facility Highlights

• The data centre occupies approximately 5,800 m² (≈ 62,400 ft²) in total building size (gross) 
• Technical (white-space) space is about 2,000 m² split into two data halls (each ~1,000 m²)
• Each data hall is designed to support 1.5 MW capacity, for an aggregate usable power of ~3 MW 
• The design PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) target is 1.3, emphasizing energy efficiency 
• Cooling is achieved using indirect adiabatic fresh air systems (free cooling) with N+1 redundancy, consistent with ASHRAE TC9.9 standards
• The facility is fed via diverse 11 kV feeders, with two independent power substations; future expansion toward 14 MVA infrastructure is planned. 
• UPS systems are configured with 10-minute autonomy, based on two banks of 444 batteries, and the diesel generator infrastructure is continuously rated in N+1 configuration.
• Fuel storage on site is sufficient for minimum 48 hours of runtime under full load conditions. 
• Slab-to-slab height is ~5 m, with structural floor loading of 12 kN/m² UDL (uniformly distributed load) 

🔐 Security & Compliance

• Full perimeter security with PAS 68 rated vehicle barrier gates and dedicated gatehouse 
• Multiple single-person anti-tailgating portals at access points 
• Electronic access control using PIN + biometric authentication 
• Extensive surveillance via 100+ CCTV cameras covering internal and external zones, with retention for up to 90 days 
• Security vetting of personnel to BS 7858 standard 
• 24×7 on-site security, monitoring, remote hands, and M&E (mechanical & electrical) support 
• Fire protection includes highly sensitive smoke detection (HSSD), double-interlocked gas suppression systems (argon/nitrogen) with 188 bottles, and control systems per BS 5839 / BS 6266 standards
• Certificated to Uptime Institute Tier III Design standard
• Compliance accreditations include ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 9001, PCI DSS, and SOC 2 

🌐 Connectivity & Carrier Access

• Carrier-neutral meet-me rooms with diverse fibre entry points 
• On-premise presence or access to multiple telecommunications providers such as BT, Virgin Media, Neos Networks, Colt, Lumen, Zayo 
• Connection to Six Degrees’ proprietary Next Generation Network, providing data-centre to data-centre, internet and MPLS interconnectivity across the UK, Europe and the U.S. 
• Support for cross-connects and direct interconnection between customers within the facility 
• Situated near Birmingham’s tech and digital ecosystem (“Silicon Canal”), offering advantageous local backhaul options 

💼 Who It Serves

• Mid-market enterprises in the West Midlands seeking geographically diverse hosting or disaster recovery solutions
• Organisations requiring hybrid architectures (colo + cloud + connectivity) leveraging 6DG’s converged service stack
• Technology firms and digital service providers based in Birmingham or the Midlands, benefiting from low-latency access
• Public sector, education, financial services, and regulated industries needing certified, resilient infrastructure
• Multi-site businesses that require interconnectivity across data centres and resilient network links