The contractor and MEP specialist Phoenix ME have secured a pre-construction services agreement for the 14-acre Court Lane site alongside the M25, launching a scheme that will transform a rundown industrial estate into a hyperscale data centre campus.

Works will start on 1 July with site clearance, utility diversions and remediation operations ahead of the main construction programme.

The development will comprise two data centre buildings and a dedicated 140MVA substation, forming a major new node in West London’s fast-expanding data centre corridor.

The delivery team includes Gensler as architect, Cundall on MEP design and L&P Group on engineering support.

Early works will focus on relocating two 36-inch Affinity Water mains crossing the site before a full remediation strategy is rolled out.

Julian Michalski, head of development for Corscale Europe, said: “This is by design an exceptional collaboration of a tier one team.

“It brings a combination of expertise and experience – each with a strong track record in complex, mission-critical environments – to deliver superior quality, programme certainty and technical assurance at every stage, ensuring we meet programme deadlines and our practical completion date in late 2029.”

McLaren’s managing director for data centres, David McDonnell, said the scheme would demand the latest construction technology and delivery techniques to meet increasingly complex hyperscale requirements.

The Court Lane site is currently occupied by a mix of industrial uses including recycling operations, waste transfer facilities, concrete and aggregate storage yards, vehicle compounds and distribution businesses.

Once complete in late 2029, the campus will add 140MW of capacity to a market where demand for power-hungry AI and cloud computing facilities continues to surge.