Southside Data Centre Location
A site chosen for what the Borders already offers
The proposed development site (NT 66448 55122) is located on the Roxburghe Estate, 9.4km to the south east of the Fallago Rig wind farm, a 48-turbine wind farm on Lammermuir Hills in Berwickshire.
The closest town, Duns, is approximately 11km away from the proposed development. The villages of Westruther and Longformacus are approximately 5km and 2km away from the proposed development, respectively.
This image does not represent the final design, but indicates the design ethos: prioritising landscape, community and environment to produce a sustainable development that sits harmoniously within its surroundings. Our aim is to deliver a final design and build a centre that is even better than the current image depicts. Please also note that all visualisations show a white outline for the roofs of buildings, this colour has been chosen for visualisation purposes to show the shape of the building, in green it proved impossible to see the shape in the visualisations.
Concerned about what this means for the landscape?
Find out how the design uses the natural hillside to minimise visual impact, and what the biodiversity enhancement programme means for the land around the site.
Technical criteria for site selection
When large-scale infrastructure projects are proposed, understanding the selection criteria is an essential part of the planning process.
This specific location was chosen due to a precise alignment of technical, environmental, and infrastructure requirements. The site offers direct access to regional wind generation assets alongside an immediate connection to established, high-capacity electrical transmission systems.
Furthermore, its close proximity to existing national fibre-optic pathways ensures robust data connectivity, while the natural land depression provides built-in visual screening. Selecting a site lacking this combination of natural and technical features would require extensive external infrastructure development, reducing both the operational efficiency and the environmental sustainability of the project.
Topography and cooling efficiency
The development site sits entirely within a natural bowl in the hillside, and this specific topography is central to the project's engineering and design strategy. By sinking the buildings into the existing hollow, the project team can repurpose the excavated earth to construct additional screening earthworks around the perimeter, naturally reducing the facility's visibility.
Beyond visual mitigation, the surrounding moorland, rolling contours, and consistent wind exposure contribute to the ambient cooling efficiency of the data centre, which significantly reduces the mechanical energy required to maintain optimal temperatures for the server equipment.
Access and transport routes
A range of options are currently being evaluated for safe access to public roads from the development site. Decisions on final access routes will be strictly informed by both the formal traffic assessment (conducted as part of the statutory Environmental Impact Assessment - EIA) and feedback received through the local community consultation process.
The project team will provide formal updates as these highway and transport designs advance.
Connectivity at the heart of the Borders
Despite its rural setting, the location is situated near two of Scotland's primary data communication trunk routes. This positioning ensures high-speed data transmission, with the secondary route acting as a redundant backup to secure uninterrupted digital operations. The same geography that provides an isolated landscape setting also makes this location strategically vital for the critical digital infrastructure that Scotland's modern economy requires.
Have your say on Southside Data Centre
We’re at an early stage in the design and environmental studies for this project, and we want to hear from the local community before a planning application is submitted. Public consultation events have already been held in Longformacus and Westruther, with further events to follow.