Hosting provider Patmos has achieved an impressive feat by setting up a new AI data center in just 90 days, a process that typically takes two to three years. This expedited development utilized a former printing press facility in Kansas City, which previously served the Kansas City Star newspaper before its transition to a digital format.
By repurposing the existing infrastructure, Patmos capitalized on the building’s dual utility feeds, chilled water systems for cooling, and fiber optic capabilities, which are crucial for modern data center operations. Joe Morgan, the COO of Patmos Hosting, noted that the building already had many necessary features, allowing for rapid construction. Within the 90-day window, Patmos completed demolition, planning, permitting, engineering, construction commissioning, and launched the data center with over five megawatts of power capacity.
The approach taken by Patmos represents a brownfield strategy—utilizing previously occupied sites rather than starting from scratch on undeveloped land. This strategy is particularly advantageous in minimizing the setup time while leveraging existing infrastructure, such as power systems and cooling capabilities. Morgan supports this brownfield model, stating it effectively addresses the pressing challenges of time and speed to market, allowing for a quicker response to the growing demand for AI and high-performance computing capabilities.
The Kansas City facility is equipped to handle power demands ranging from 50 to over 140 kilowatts per cabinet—significantly higher than legacy data centers, which typically only manage 1-2 kilowatts. The data center employs Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell processors, known for generating considerable heat, necessitating a sophisticated multi-loop liquid cooling system. This system separates municipal water sources from those servicing the IT equipment to enhance efficiency and protect hardware.
In this repurposed facility, Patmos has not only built a robust infrastructure unique to its needs but has also planned for expansion, with an additional five megawatts set to be added in the coming months.
Patmos operates a decentralized connectivity model, providing various services including colocation for AI and hyperscale workloads, GPU and high-performance computing, web hosting, and custom data center solutions. This growth further illustrates how strategic use of brownfield locations can successfully address contemporary demands in the data center industry.
For more information, visit Patmos Hosting.
