Fire mist system installed at Paris Digital Park campus

VID FIREKILL has installed a low-pressure water mist fire protection system in the PAR10 and PAR11 buildings at Digital Realty’s Paris Digital Park campus, covering two facilities within one of Europe’s larger digital infrastructure developments.

The site in La Courneuve comprises four facilities: PAR8, PAR9, PAR10 and PAR11. Together they provide 76 MW of IT capacity across about 39,000 square metres of white space. Mercury oversaw construction and engineering for PAR10 and PAR11.

The fire protection system was designed for multiple areas within the two buildings, including data halls, technical rooms, generator areas and supporting infrastructure zones. A single water mist technology was used across these risk areas to provide a consistent approach throughout both facilities.

Across PAR10 and PAR11, the installation includes about 7,000 nozzles and roughly 200 control valves. The network uses a compact pipe layout designed to fit within dense mechanical and electrical installations.

Project scope

PAR10 and PAR11 form part of a campus developed and operated by Digital Realty, which runs data centre, colocation and interconnection sites. The facilities were built to support demand driven by cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital services, and include high-density power infrastructure, cooling systems and other building services used in mission-critical operations.

That operating environment shaped the fire protection brief. The system had to protect several risk settings, fit into limited technical space, work within a fast-moving construction programme and align with FM Global hazard classifications including HC2 and HC3.

Low-pressure water mist systems suppress fire mainly through cooling. Fine droplets absorb heat and lower the temperature in the combustion zone, helping control fire development while reducing the potential impact on sensitive equipment and electrical infrastructure.

Space and water

In data centres, one of the main engineering challenges is fitting equipment into already crowded plant and service spaces. Smaller pipe diameters in water mist systems can make integration easier in buildings with dense electrical and mechanical layouts.

Water demand is another factor. Water mist systems use less water than conventional sprinklers, which can reduce on-site storage and drainage requirements. That matters in large technical facilities where space is tightly managed and building systems must coexist with power, cooling and network infrastructure.

System design can also affect installation schedules. More compact piping networks and simplified layouts can help contractors complete installation and commissioning alongside other engineering trades on tightly coordinated projects.

Partner roles

Mercury led delivery of the Paris Digital Park campus through a multidisciplinary model covering civil, structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical work. Within that framework, VID FIREKILL supplied the fire protection system for the two facilities.

Mercury said delivering hyperscale data centre infrastructure requires close coordination between engineering partners and specialist suppliers. For PAR10 and PAR11, it said integrating reliable fire protection was an important part of overall project delivery, and that collaboration with VID FIREKILL helped the team implement a system aligned with the performance and resilience expectations of modern data centre environments.

The project shows how specialist systems are being adapted for increasingly dense data centre environments, where operators and contractors must balance fire safety, technical space, construction speed and the need to protect critical equipment.

VID FIREKILL is a Danish manufacturer focused on low-pressure water mist systems for sites including data centres, buildings, tunnels, industrial facilities and marine settings. Ireland-based Mercury works on large engineering and construction projects across sectors including data centres, advanced technology, life sciences and semiconductor manufacturing.

VID FIREKILL said data centres require fire protection systems that combine performance, reliability and engineering flexibility. For PAR10 and PAR11, it said its low-pressure water mist technology provided a solution capable of protecting multiple risk areas while supporting efficient integration within the building infrastructure, and that working with Mercury allowed it to contribute to resilient fire protection for a major digital infrastructure development.