Castleforge and Galaxy Data Centers Secure Planning Consent for New Data Centre in Redhill

Castleforge, a real estate investor, has announced that it has received full planning consent for a new 15MW data centre development at its Redhill campus, in collaboration with Galaxy Data Centers, a full-service data centre operator and advisory firm.

The new facility, located just outside London, will consist of four data halls and will support a local waste heat recovery initiative. The Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s Planning Committee approved the project, marking a significant advancement in the joint venture’s efforts to enhance digital infrastructure capacity in the London market. This follows a substantial investment of over £100 million in the existing Redhill Data Centre campus in December 2024.

The expansion of the campus will involve an additional £200 million investment, bringing the gross project value to approximately £500 million. The development will be situated on the existing 3.1-hectare industrial estate at Foxboro Business Park and will feature a two-storey data centre with four data halls and an accompanying office block.

Designed to achieve a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM rating, the project incorporates various low and zero carbon technologies. The facility will reuse waste heat generated on site, with plans for future export of this waste heat to the neighbouring residential heat network, aiding the community’s transition to lower carbon energy.

This expansion comes in response to the increasing demand for digital infrastructure in the London market, driven by advancements in AI, cloud computing, and hybrid workloads. Current demand for data significantly exceeds the available power supply, and the challenges of constructing new data centres in major metropolitan areas have made established hubs more attractive for investment.

Mike Adcock, Head of Investments at Castleforge, stated: “Securing planning consent for our new development at Redhill is a major milestone in our plans to deliver high-quality, sustainable digital infrastructure to one of the world’s most important data centre markets. Demand for capacity in and around London continues to outpace supply, and this consent enables us to bring forward the additional power and scale required to serve enterprise, hyperscale and edge customers. We are particularly proud of the project’s sustainability credentials, including the potential to export waste heat to local homes, which reflects our commitment to creating places that deliver lasting value for both customers and the surrounding community.”

Paul Leong, Chief Financial Officer and Partner of Galaxy Data Centers, added: “This planning consent is a pivotal step in realising the long-term vision we set out when we acquired Redhill alongside Castleforge. The new facility will significantly expand the capacity available to our customers and ensure Redhill is positioned to meet the evolving needs of edge, hyperscale and enterprise users. We are proud to be delivering a development that combines operational excellence with meaningful sustainability outcomes, and we look forward to bringing the project forward in close collaboration with the local community.”

The Redhill campus currently spans 11,800 square metres across three buildings, serving a diverse existing customer base, including Fortune 500 enterprises from financial services, AI, and other sectors. Customers are attracted to the site’s secured green energy, low-latency connectivity to data centre hubs such as Slough and the Docklands, and scalable infrastructure.

London remains the largest and most dominant data centre market in Europe and the second largest globally, following Northern Virginia. According to CBRE, the European data centre market continues to show strong year-on-year growth, with significant development activity across Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris. With planning consent now secured, Castleforge and Galaxy Data Centers will proceed with the next phase of development, with further milestones to be announced in due course.