Lunar Digital has commenced a multi-million-pound upgrade of the Reynolds House data center in Manchester, UK.

The start of this year saw the company finally execute the 15-year lease that has been ongoing for the past 12 months, taking over from Equinix as the tenant at Capitaland Ascendas REIT-owned Reynolds House.

On January 3, development works across all the data halls at the site began, including full renovations of the C5 and C6 data halls to optimize power and cooling, the deployment of new cooling solutions to cater to HPC and AI customer needs, a new UPS system for C3, 4, 5, and 6 data halls, blanking panels in all areas, and underfloor baffling and CAC (Cold Aisle Containment) for colocation areas and HAC (Hot Aisle Containment) for HPC solutions.

The exact value of the upgrade has not been shared but is described as being "multi-millions" of pounds.

Mark Sedgley, CCO at Lunar Digital said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest in this incredible city. Modernizing our data centers will enable us to deliver highly efficient colocation and with the adoption of AI and machine learning that is transforming the way we live our lives, we are also dedicating our approach to enabling HPC solutions, a fast-growing space that has limited options currently in Manchester.

"Sustainability and giving back to the environment are incredibly important for Lunar Digital. Our obligation to invest ethically into improving the efficiency of our data centers and advancing our strategy to become not only net zero but carbon positive is something that is very close to our heart.”

Lunar Digital first shared its intent to take over Reynold House in the Manchester Technopark was first announced in February 2023, just over a year after Equinix began making moves to exit. The facility comprises two data centers previously used by Equinix, with a combined capacity of 3MW.

It was opened in 2006 by local firm Internet Facilitators, before the company was acquired by MSP Attenda in 2007 and then again by Telecity in July 2010; Equinix bought Telecity and took over the data center in 2015.

Lunar Digital is part of the Lunar Group and was founded in 2022. The company thus far has an IT footprint of over 35,000 sq ft in Manchester across three facilities. Lunar4 is located in Gaupner, Luster Municipality, Norway, and offers 15MVA of capacity.