Big Data Institute, Oxford

The new Big Data Institute on the Old Road Campus of the University of Oxford is located between two recently completed laboratory buildings – the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology and the NDM Research Building.

The BDI will accommodate 552 staff and bring together world-leading researchers to explore the prevention and treatment of diseases. The pioneering data centre will store, analyse and process vast amounts of health-related digital data with the aim of providing new insights into illnesses and treatments worldwide. It is part of the wider decade-long capital master plan which the university has already begun to implement.

The newly commissioned building required a large basement up to 9.5 m deep and set within a secant pile wall, which WJ was enlisted to undertake.

Having successfully carried out the temporary dewatering for the adjacent campus structures (the NDM and the Kennedy Institute), WJ was able to value and engineer the dewatering solution to match the client’s requirements. 8 deepwells were additionally installed to provide groundwater control and the discharge from the dewatering system was re-purposed as a controlled body of water. Part of WJ’s role included the sampling and chemical testing of the discharge (and adjacent stream) to ensure that no adverse environmental impact would be suffered.

Another day, another pioneering research institution to add to our CV.

For more information please read this article.

• LOCATION: Oxford
• CLIENT: University of Oxford
• MAIN CONTRACTOR: Mace Limited