Standardised solutions lend themselves to efficiencies in construction and the application of DfMA.
Aiming to introduce manufacturing capability into GSK’s Parma site for Fostemsavir (a life-saving HIV drug for patients with limited or no other treatment options available), this project’s brief was ambitious.. To maintain supply while the drug was in development and clinical trials, GSK had to build and commission a brand new facility in a shorter timeframe than had ever been achieved before.. As lead designer, Bryden Wood formed a collaborative team with external partners and client representatives to capture functional requirements in “Chip” models that could be rapidly configured to allow many design options to be evaluated in a short time..The ability to undertake rapid digital optioneering was particularly important as forecast demand volumes were uncertain and clinical manufacturing requirements for the drug were still being developed during the design phase.
We developed a capacity model in-house to inform decisions around unit operations and scale..The final design concept was deliberately simple.Process spaces were housed on a single level, raised above the ground to meet flood protection requirements.
A technical floor was located above the process.Offsite modular prefabrication helped improve programme delivery..
Working alongside local stakeholders to ensure the viability of delivery in Italy, we overlapped design, procurement and construction activities to prioritise elements of the build according to variables like complexity and long-lead-time equipment..
Rigorous interrogation of the design at each stage helped ensure construction and commissioning was completed on budget and within a very tight schedule: 15 months from groundbreaking to handover of the fully finished facility..It was suggested that the increase in processor power will lead to rack density increasing, with the 1MW rack already being envisaged..
The change at processor/rack level density is accelerating at a rate that brings challenges to construction project delivery.When projects can take four to five years to realise, there might be a tenfold increase in rack density within that lifetime, creating a significant dilemma of what to build and how to pivot..
The move from air-cooled to liquid-cooled solutions is key.However, liquid cooling topology can be more complicated and expensive, so the trajectory for take up of this technology is still evolving.. Another disparity in scales arises between rack density and cooling technology infrastructure.