The Southall site was previously occupied by a 10-storey factory constructed in 1936 for the Quaker Oats Company<\/a>. In 1957 it became the source of Sugar Puffs, later rebranded to Honey Monster Puffs in 2014. The factory closed in 2016 and the building was demolished in 2022.<\/p>\n The site was earmarked for a massive Galliard Homes residential project<\/a> for 1,997 flats and 28,000m2 of creative employment space, known as Quayside Quarter. The never-realised scheme was masterplanned by EPR and also involved AHR, Levitt Bernstein and PRS and received planning consent in 2020.<\/p>\n Galliard Homes sold the site in 2022, citing disruption to the residential market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and following a strategic review of its portfolio.<\/p>\n Another planning consent was awarded in 2023 to a hybrid application for an industrial campus and logistics redevelopment<\/a> by UMC Architects for HM Devco and known as Blueprint, Southall. That scheme was not progressed either.<\/p>\n Now CyrusOne, as part of its all-new proposals<\/a>, has agreed to provide Ealing Council with \u00a317,700,000 in financial contributions towards supporting local infrastructure and \u2018mitigating the impacts of the development\u2019.<\/p>\n This, along with the benefits of a new and improved public realm and the contribution of the data centre to the infrastructure needs of the city, led planning officers to recommend the scheme for approval.<\/p>\n The planning officer\u2019s report said: \u2018The substantial economic, infrastructure, employment, public realm, environmental and regeneration benefits of the scheme attract significant weight and outweigh the limited adverse impacts.\u2019<\/p>\n While councillors voted to approve the application earlier this month, concerns were raised over the \u2018colossal\u2019 amount of electricity and water required to run the data centre and its impact on the carbon footprint of the borough.<\/p>\n According to the developers, however, the scheme includes a \u2018comprehensive sustainability package\u2019, which achieve a 79 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared with the Part L 2021 baseline, result in an at least a 10 per cent biodiversity net gain, as well as providing a \u00a35.36 million carbon offset payment. The project is aiming for a BREEAM Excellent rating.<\/p>\n Heat generated by the data halls will be recovered through heat exchanges, upgraded through heat pumps, and used to provide heating and hot water to office spaces in the data centre and affordable workspace buildings.<\/p>\n The surrounding public realm includes a large screen mounted on the eastern end of the fa\u00e7ade, creating a \u2018setting for programmable community events\u2019. A water feature is planned as a centrepiece of the public realm, sitting next to the affordable workspace building.<\/p>\n Sketch of Apt\u2019s consented data centre on the Former Honey Monster Food Factory site<\/p>\n Source: Apt<\/p>\n A spokesperson for CyrusOne said it wanted to \u2018recognise the depth of engagement that has shaped these plans\u2019, stating: \u2018We\u2019ve worked closely with a wide variety of relevant local politicians, community leaders, businesses, residents and community groups.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ve also held public events to give residents the opportunity to directly understand the data centre development, ask questions and share their feedback. Local input has shaped the scheme, and continued community engagement will remain central to this project as it progresses.\u2019<\/p>\n They added that the planning committee\u2019s vote was \u2018another positive milestone in bringing our Southall project to fruition\u2019.<\/p>\n The application was approved just one day before the new Draft London Plan<\/a> was released, which includes specific guidelines for the construction of data centres.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/APT-data-1.webp\")
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