RACA Journal I April 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 7
Background image by © RACA Journal
DATA CENTRE FEATURE SERIES
THE UNSEEN FOUNDATION
By Eamonn Ryan
In data centres, every millimetre and airflow path can impact efficiency, whereby the role of foundational infrastructure is often underestimated.
Bergvik Southern Africa, a specialist in engineered raised flooring and structural ceiling solutions, at the Pan-African Data Centre Exhibition and Conference, demonstrated how these critical components actively contribute to optimise data centre cooling and overall operational stability. RACA Journal spoke with Lanc Pieterse, director for Bergvik Southern Africa, to understand their innovative approach.
" Cooling in general is currently a bit of a grey space," Pieterse acknowledges, referring to the ongoing evolution from traditional aircooled setups to emerging liquid and submerged cooling technologies. Regardless of the primary cooling method, Bergvik ' s solutions play a key role. Even with liquid cooling to the chip or submerged cooling, a portion of air cooling is still required. Without a raised access floor, delivering this air efficiently to the racks becomes challenging, often necessitating less optimal in-row coolers that increase maintenance.
Bergvik differentiates itself by providing an‘ engineered floor’ rather than a traditional raised access floor. Its systems offer high flexibility in cooling delivery. " From a flexibility perspective, our floor can take a lot more load than other floors," Pieterse explains. This is achieved through a unique three-tiered system comprising a primary beam, a secondary beam and the panel itself. This allows pedestals to be moved freely along the X and Y axes under the primary beam, accommodating various load requirements and existing piping without needing complex bridges or compromising the overall floor layout.
Crucially, Bergvik ' s system utilises significantly fewer pedestals than traditional floors. " You have a lot less restrictions and obstructions underneath the floor, which helps with improved flow," Pieterse notes, enabling more efficient and stable airflow for cooling. Their floors can support loads ranging from one to four tons per square metre.
Beyond the floor, Bergvik also offers structural ceiling grids that enhance containment strategies. By allowing containment solutions to be fixed directly to the grid, their ceilings eliminate the need to constantly open panels and work in the void above. This drastically reduces air mixture between hot and cold air, improving the overall stability and efficiency of the cooling environment.
While data centres represent a predominant market in South Africa due to current demand, Bergvik ' s engineered flooring system finds applications across a broad spectrum of industries. " We do any electrical rooms," Pieterse states, highlighting their presence in substations, motor control centre( MCC) rooms, wastewater treatment plants, manufacturing facilities, transformer rooms and cable stations – essentially, anywhere with control panels, switchgear or transformers.
Bergvik ' s market approach is a mix, employing resellers in some African regions while generally going direct to market in South Africa. Their reach spans the entire continent, with projects completed in diverse countries including Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Angola, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia.
AFRICAN MARKET DYNAMICS: A PAUSE, NOT A STOP Pieterse offers a nuanced perspective on the current African data centre market. " It ' s definitely doing well, in comparison to what it did five years ago," he asserts. However, he notes a " little bit of a restriction " in the data centre space itself at present. This is not an Africa-specific phenomenon, but rather a global trend. " A lot of the hyperscalers that are predominantly driving AI are rethinking strategy," he explains. This period of strategic recalibration by major players has led to a temporary pause in new builds, but Pieterse is confident it ' s " definitely not a stop ".
Robust and adaptable infrastructure remains essential to ensuring efficient and flexible data centre operations – laying the groundwork for the continued digital expansion anticipated across the African continent. RACA
Data centres
RACA Journal I April 2026 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za 7