At the Hana Financial Group Data Center in Cheongna International City, South Korea, a DPR team participated in a traditional Korean gosa ceremony, marking new beginnings, hope and good luck.

The first building in South Korea to be built through preconstruction and a GMP contract, the seven-story, 325,000-sq.-ft. data center and 18-story, 342,000-sq.-ft. administration building will rival both domestic and international facilities, and is a significant milestone for DPR’s Korea practice.

The Hana Financial Group Data Center is the first building in South Korea to be built through preconstruction and a GMP contract. (Rendering courtesy: Samwoo Architects & Engineers)

Providing guidance and leveraging our network in a construction management role, the DPR team helped Hana Bank choose an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system, the first one that has ever been installed globally. The diesel-driven rotary UPS in an isolated parallel (IP) configuration is backed up by batteries and makes sure the data center’s servers are always running with no glitches or loss of power. With expertise in the mission critical market, DPR helped the client and design team select this system, balancing the owner’s business requirements with optimizing the combination of redundancy, resilience, maintainability and cost.

The data center project has overcome challenges including troublesome soil condition as well as a local labor force that is unfamiliar with the mechanical and electrical systems used by global data centers. Led by Sangwoo Cho, who grew up in Korea, the in-country DPR team has remained continuously flexible to adapt to and integrate with the local culture, language and way of approaching situations. It’s a compromise of both sides adjusting to each other and finding a balance of what they are willing to change, while holding on to their respective values.

A rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system at the data center is just one way DPR has helped balance the owner’s business requirements with optimizing redundancy, resilience, maintainability and cost. (Photo courtesy: Grace Yoon)

“We understand how the locals do things here, and we have learned how to implement new techniques and strategies that can succeed within the current system in Korea. We are integrating into the local market,” said Hock Yap, DPR’s team leader on the Hana Data Center project.

DPR entered the Korean market in 2011, and has since collaborated with several large Korean general contractors, construction management firms and owners on the advancement and adoption of new technologies and ways to manage and deliver projects, including the Hana Financial Group campus, Gyeongsang National University Hospital and Parnas Tower.

The team participates in a traditional Korean gosa ceremony, marking new beginnings, hope and good luck. (Photo courtesy: Gerry Brown)

“In a sense, we are a breath of fresh air in Korea because we do things so progressively, with a focus on innovative technology. Whether it’s installing the first ever UPS system, collaborating on preconstruction, or introducing a new type of contract, sometimes our clients are in disbelief that we can actually do these things, but our achievements are real and can be backed up with data, facts and case studies,” said Yap.

Yap was one of the DPR team members who participated in the gosa ceremony, placing a symbolic envelope of money into the mouth of a pig’s head, as well as a dried pollock fish on the first server rack installed. Embracing the culture of Korea, the team is looking forward to building great things with hope and good fortune for decades to come.

The DPR team looks forward to building great things in Korea for decades to come. From left to right: George Pfeffer, Eric Lamb, Atul Khanzode, Sangwoo Cho, Gerry Brown, Grace Yoon, Hock Yap, DJ Yun, David Ibarra (Photo courtesy: Hock Yap)