MENUMENU
  • Company
        • Overview
        • History
        • News
        • Contact
        • AI at SSOE
        • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
        • Environmental, Social, and Governance
        • Leadership
        • Design Awards
        • Safety
        • Locations
  • Services
        • Architecture
        • Engineering
        • Program / Project Management
        • Site Evaluation
        • Master Planning
        • Commissioning & Qualification
        • Hazardous Materials Consulting
        • Data / Fire / Security
        • Sustainable Design
  • Markets
        • Industrial
          • Automotive
          • Battery
          • Chemical
          • Consumer Products
          • Data Centers & AI Factories
          • Energy / Solar
          • Food & Beverage
          • Glass
          • Manufacturing
          • Pharmaceutical
          • Semiconductor / Advanced Technology
        • Architectural
          • Airports & Aviation
          • Corporate Workplace
          • Government / Judicial
          • Healthcare
          • Higher Education
          • K-12 Education
          • Residential / Hospitality / Mixed-Use
          • Workforce Development / Training Centers
  • Our Work
  • Careers
  • Menu Menu
Contact
Data Centers

Data Centers

May 2, 2025/in Data Centers Data / Fire / Security (DFS), Engineering, Architecture, Program / Project Management Midwest U.S. Markets - Data Centers /by Hannah Lee

SSOE provided programming and design support for a state-of-the-art modular data center, scalable to 2MW. Collaborating closely with the client’s design team and construction partner, SSOE focused on optimizing the white space to grey space ratio, ensuring efficient use of space for both equipment and support infrastructure. The design emphasized concurrent maintainability, allowing for operations to continue without downtime, thus enhancing reliability and uptime for critical processes. By leveraging advanced design techniques and modular construction methods, SSOE delivered a high-performance, energy-efficient data center that meets the stringent requirements of the semiconductor industry.

https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/ssoe_modular-data-center_522x390.png 390 522 Hannah Lee https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/SSOE-1805-Reg-2.svg Hannah Lee2025-05-02 10:04:182025-05-02 10:04:18Modular Data Center
September 26, 2024/in Data Centers, Battery Architecture, Site Evaluation, Engineering Western U.S. Markets - Data Centers, Markets - Battery /by Hannah Lee

A pioneering battery manufacturer known for its high-density silicon-anode batteries is embarking on an ambitious expansion project. The company is converting a former Kmart distribution center into a state-of-the-art production plant. This move represents a significant leap from R&D to pilot manufacturing, to scaling up the production of their cutting-edge batteries used in phones, drones, military applications, and electric vertical takeoff and landing (EVTL) vehicles.

SSOE Group, with its recognized architectural and engineering design expertise in the battery manufacturing market, has partnered with Turner Construction to develop and construct the 775,000 SF facility, which is part of a more extensive 1.2 million SF multi-tenant complex. Phase 1 is engineered to have a production capacity of 500 megawatt-hours of battery power once in production.

Turner took the helm with site selection, evaluating potential sites across the U.S. Ultimately, a site in the west was selected offering an optimal climate, suitable humidity levels, and a robust utility infrastructure, complete with existing substations and the possibility for future expansions.

A rezoning effort was necessary to transition from a warehouse-only designation to one that includes manufacturing capabilities. SSOE and Turner provided expert support to a subsequent community engagement campaign, which was launched to dispel misconceptions and provide transparent information about the facility’s operations and processes. Despite facing initial resistance and a legal challenge
against the city, the rezoning efforts were successful, allowing the project to move forward.

Addressing the challenges presented by the brownfield site, SSOE’s team had to overcome layout limitations, which led to the design of an additional structure and modifications to the ceilings to create a suitable cleanroom environment. Moreover, relocating the process line from China to the U.S. required a detailed plan to comply with the diverse standards and regulations concerning electrical systems, utilities,
and piping, ensuring a seamless transition.

This company’s commitment to innovation and overcoming challenges, while harnessing the advantages of the environment and topography, position them to help transform the battery industry with its high-quality, dense power solutions.

https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/ssoe_brownfield-battery-facility_522x390.png 390 522 Hannah Lee https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/SSOE-1805-Reg-2.svg Hannah Lee2024-09-26 14:48:362025-05-02 09:16:17Brownfield Transformed into High-Tech Production
May 31, 2018/in Data Centers, Healthcare Data / Fire / Security (DFS), Engineering U.S., Midwest U.S. Markets - Data Centers /by david

The expandability of the Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) systems will save the client money and the trouble of replacing the entire system.

As a result of a major utility power failure, due to a lightning strike, the main data center for a large regional healthcare system lost all normal and emergency back-up power. This failure affected all operations in every related facility within the organization. The failure also caused damage to the UPS system. SSOE was on-site late that evening and through the weekend, assisting in returning power to the critical systems. During the course of the evening, the emergency generator also failed, requiring the rental of a large trailer-mounted diesel generator.

It was determined that the existing data center lacked the emergency back-up systems required to continue seamless operations in the event of a prolonged outage. The result was approximately a $5 million expansion and renovation project which included a new addition to house the equipment and the installation of redundant services, two emergency generators with paralleling switchgear, and two additional UPS systems.

SSOE’s Data / Fire / Security (DFS) group ensured proper grounding of the existing IT equipment, along with the new UPS, and generator systems. The new UPS systems were sized to fit the client’s current needs and can easily be expanded as the IT load increases. The UPS system and generators are monitored through the client’s network and communicates when there is any trouble conditions within the entire emergency backup power system.

https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/ssoe_healthcare-data-center_new_522x390.png 390 522 david https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/SSOE-1805-Reg-2.svg david2018-05-31 18:50:532025-06-23 12:25:55Data Center Expansion / Renovation
May 31, 2018/in Manufacturing, Data Centers Engineering, Architecture U.S., Western U.S. Markets - Data Centers /by david

Taking advantage of the local climate allowed SSOE to design an energy efficient facility, reducing energy costs.

In late 2012, SSOE Group merged with Evergreen EDC bringing significant synergies to both firms’ data center capabilities.

Digital Realty, a worldwide leader in data center solutions, selected SSOE to provide architectural and engineering services for its customer’s new 52,000 SF facility in Hillsboro, Oregon. The 4.5 MW data center was designed using modular and scalable design principles and includes four identical and independent server equipment room PODs, each approximately 4,600 SF and containing 120 cabinets. Two additional PODs have been included on the site master plan and can be added in the future. The modules are organized along a central service corridor, which provides access to the server, electrical, and battery rooms. The rooftop air handlers utilize air side economizers to provide “free cooling” to the data center for up to 10 months a year. Cool air is supplied to an overhead plenum that distributes the air to the server cabinet cold aisles. The cold aisles are architecturally isolated from the rest of the room (hot aisles) using modular wall components, which assures efficient air flow and eliminates the mixing of hot and cold, thus reducing overall energy costs.

The most significant challenge on this project proved to be fitting the building program requirements within a small, sloping site. By implementing a rapid prototyping design process, SSOE was able to quickly produce a wide range of building configurations and site master plans, allowing the owner the opportunity to provide timely input. The use of this design process was instrumental in keeping the project on schedule and ensuring the owner’s needs and expectations were met. In the final design, SSOE maximized the building footprint by wrapping the support spaces around the server room modules.

The result is a dual-corridor system, one for service and the other for client access, which meets the varying levels of security protocol required by the owner. The building was also orientated and formed to take full advantage of the overall depth of the site, while still maintaining a separate and secure entry for both on-site parking and service yard access. SSOE raised the finished floor elevation of the building in order to balance the cut and fill requirement on the site, and to eliminate off-site soil disposal.

SSOE’s design process, relationship, and familiarity with the local code jurisdiction were instrumental in meeting the aggressive project schedule. We worked cooperatively with Digital Realty to design a cost effective, energy efficient data center that met their current demands, while also maintaining flexibility to adapt to future growth.

https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/ssoe_digital-realty-data-center_522x390.png 390 522 david https://www.ssoe.com/wp-content/uploads/SSOE-1805-Reg-2.svg david2018-05-31 18:48:062025-04-17 13:45:24DLR Data Center

Categories

  • Uncategorized
  • News
  • Safety Topics
  • Job Site Safety
  • Workplace Safety
  • Outdoor Safety
  • Markets
  • Indoor Safety
  • Services
  • Industrial Solutions
  • Architectural

Archives

Contact Us

Have a question regarding our services? Need assistance with an upcoming project? Send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you and will follow up soon.

Contact Us

Our Services

  • Architecture
  • Engineering
  • Program / Project Management
  • Site Evaluation
  • Master Planning
  • Commissioning & Qualification
  • Hazardous Materials Consulting
  • Data / Fire / Security
  • Sustainable Design

Sign up to receive official SSOE Group news and updates!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

© SSOE GROUP 1948-2025
Legal | Privacy Policy | CA Privacy Policy

Employee Portal
Vendors / Subcontractor

Website designed and developed by
Raincastle Communications, Inc.

Scroll to top

Agentic Automation

Empowering Teams with AI-Driven Workflows

SSOE is actively piloting AI Chat large language models (LLMs) or copilots that use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to streamline both design and development tasks, transforming how our teams interact with software and each other.

By integrating chat LLM engines into platforms like Revit, we’re enabling users to prompt complex actions using simple, conversational commands. In Revit, this means automating tasks such as modeling elements, cleaning up parameter data, managing annotations and dimensions, and organizing sheets—without writing scripts. These automations and quality prompts can be shared across project teams, accelerating workflows and reducing manual effort.

Similarly, our internal Software Development Community is leveraging GitHub Copilot to expedite coding tasks. Developers can generate and refine code using NLP prompts, tapping into GitHub’s extensive Repo to move faster from concept to implementation.

Together, these tools represent a shift from traditional, expert-driven scripting to intuitive, AI-assisted automation, unlocking new levels of efficiency and scalability across our projects.

Microsoft Copilot

Empowering our teams with everyday AI

SSOE is utilizing Microsoft Copilot Edge and M365 to significantly enhance work efficiency and accuracy across various departments. Copilot is accessible to all staff after training. Key areas of application include using it as a writing assistant, for idea generation, document summarization and generation, research assistant, excel assistant, programming code assistant, language translations, product comparison and data analysis. Use of Copilot has become part of the everyday life of SSOE employees who have identified key ways it can help them become more efficient with their daily tasks as well as more accurate in their deliverables.

Today, 100% of SSOE employees have taken the voluntary training and have access to Copilot Edge, achieving early our October 1, 2025 goal.

In-House Resource Planning Tool

A solution to one of the AEC industry’s toughest challenges

We found ourselves in need of a more robust tool to enhance resource forecasting and staff assignment capabilities. Instead of waiting for the perfect tool, we’re building it. SSOE’s in-house technology team has developed and piloted a tool that aims to forecast optimal staff mix and duration for new projects against existing workload to better understand capacity and manage resources efficiently. Additionally, the tool will allow teams to identify gaps to optimal staff mix.

AI Knowledge Retention

Lessons learned shouldn’t disappear when people move on

SSOE has developed a proof-of-concept to use an AI Agent to act as a Master Engineer and Architect trained in SSOE’s processes, best-known-methods, and trainings. Our data structure is being remodeled to enable better use of our proprietary knowledge to train the agent on the ‘SSOE way’.

Autodesk Forma

Early-stage design modeling in extreme climates

We helped our client visualize and optimize façade design for occupant comfort—long before breaking ground through the use of the Autodesk Forma tool. It allows the designer to rapidly experiment with the building’s geometry and façade design to promote sustainability, prioritizing quality of spaces and comfort for end uses, especially in extreme climates (daylighting and microclimate analysis tools) at the project’s exact geographic location, using location-specific environmental data.

Discover how SSOE is using Autodesk Forma to improve sustainability outcomes for industrial projects: SSOE Group: Improving sustainability outcomes for industrial projects with Autodesk Forma.

ACC AI Assistant

Accelerating Project Clarity with AI-Driven Specification Search

Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) is SSOE’s enterprise-wide project delivery platform. We partner with the Autodesk Product team and have research access. Use of the AI Assistant allows our design teams, owners, and general contractors the ability to query the project specifications for quality, answers, and more rapid responses to RFIs, submittals, or issues.

  • Please complete this short form to receive your copy of “The Evolution of Electrification: Three Key Considerations Impacting Battery Facilities and Battery Energy Storage."

     
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Company
    • Overview
    • History
    • News
    • AI at SSOE
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Environmental, Social, and Governance
    • Leadership
    • Design Awards
    • Safety
    • Locations
    • Contact
  • Services
    • Program / Project Management
    • Hazardous Materials Consulting
    • Architecture
    • Engineering
    • Site Evaluation
    • Master Planning
    • Commissioning & Qualification
    • Data / Fire / Security
    • Sustainable Design
  • Markets
    • Industrial
      • Automotive
      • Battery
      • Chemical
      • Consumer Products
      • Data Centers & AI Factories
      • Energy / Solar
      • Food & Beverage
      • Glass
      • Manufacturing
      • Pharmaceutical
      • Semiconductor / Advanced Technology
    • Architectural
      • Airports & Aviation
      • Corporate Workplace
      • Government / Judicial
      • Healthcare
      • Higher Education
      • K-12 Education
      • Residential / Hospitality / Mixed-Use
      • Workforce Development / Training Centers
  • Our Work
  • Careers
    Contact