Edinburgh Set to Welcome New Data Centre on Former RBS Headquarters Site
Exciting plans are in the works for a new data centre in Edinburgh, as real estate investment firm Shelborn Asset Management, in collaboration with StudioNWA Architects, is considering developing a campus on the grounds of the former Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters. The original buildings on the site, built in 1993 and spanning 330,000 sq ft across 18.5 acres, were recently demolished after NatWest staff relocated to Gogarburn.
Initially intended for office space, the site’s developers have pivoted their plans due to decreased demand in a post-Covid world. The proposal now includes two data centre buildings of varying sizes and a new substation. While the specifics of the data centre’s capacity remain unknown, the potential shift to data infrastructure is a notable change from the previously planned mixed-use development.
With Scotland’s abundance of renewable energy, Edinburgh is an ideal location for a new data centre. Despite the area’s renewable resources, proposals for new data centres in the region are uncommon. Shelbourn Drummond aims to secure planning consent by early next year for its green data centre, aligning with the eco-friendly criteria outlined in the National Planning Framework 4.
