NEXTDC data centre, joining influx of tech companies to Adelaide city, to be on beach volleyball centre site

The NEXTDC data centre would be on the city beach volleyball centre site on the corner of Pirie and Frome streets, Adelaide city.
Images courtesy NEXTDC and CityMag (Angela Skujins), Solstice Media, Adelaide.

Technology company NEXTDC announced plans in 2022 to invest more than $100 million on a data centre on former city beach volleyball site at the corner of Pirie and Frome streets, Adelaide city.

To be called A1, the 24/7 secured data centre would be critical for South Australia’s defence and hi-tech industries, according to the state government. The centre would also include a “mission critical operational space” and an entrepreneur and innovation centre.

Adelaide City Council decided to sell off the the beach volleyball site in 2021 to boost revenue hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This was despite an overwhelming major of people responding to a public consulation opposing the sale. A new location for volleyball had been identified at Bonython Park in the city parklands.

Adelaide lord mayor Sandy Verschoor said the NEXTDC centre was “precisely the type of business we want to see based here”: “Not only will the sale of 211 Pirie Street see a company with a strong global reputation further cement Adelaide’s reputation as an affordable and innovative place to do business, the investment will be responsibly used for the growth of the city.”

Premier Steven Marshall said NEXTDC was the latest technology company deciding to set up in Adelaide, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The NEXTDC investment would go beyond creating the data centre to include the opportunity for collaboration with the state’s universities, ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers. NEXTDC already had 14 data centres across Australia including four in Sydney.