Channel Islands' Old C5 data center will soon be Jersey Water HQ

An old data center on the Channel Island of Jersey is slated to become the new headquarters of the local water utility. According to the Jersey Evening Post and Baliwick Express, Jersey Water has requested planning approval to convert an industrial structure in St. Saviour parish into a new headquarters.

Jersey Water bought the vacant two-story industrial building at 3 La Rue Sinnatt in the Rue des Prés trading estate at the end of last year to consolidate its industrial and commercial units under one roof. The site, once a backup and disaster recovery facility and office, was previously managed by C5 Alliance and Itex. The site is approximately 18,160 square feet in size.

C5, a subsidiary of the local services firm BDO, acquired Itex in 2013 and assumed control of the site. The property, which dates back to the early 1990s, served as a data center from 1996 until December 2022. Additionally, C5 maintains a data center on Guernsey's Braye Road. In 2015, C5 announced a partnership with Virtus that would enable Channel Island enterprises to host data in the United Kingdom.

The proposed alterations include the construction of a commercial store area, a plant testing workshop, and a water testing laboratory on the ground floor, as well as a mezzanine store on the first floor. In 2021, the utility company sold Mulcaster House off Westmount Road to the government for £3.2 million. Late in 2022, the proposal to construct a new hospital on the site was abandoned. Elliott Design Partnership, a local architecture and design firm, conceived the scheme and submitted the proposals on behalf of Jersey Water.