As power densities rise and sustainability pressures grow, Matthew Blackmore, Managing Director, STULZ UK, outlines why cooling must be treated as a system-level design priority.
The UK data centre market continues to mature at speed. Higher compute densities, evolving application profiles, and increasing pressure to reduce environmental impact are reshaping how cooling strategies are designed and evaluated. In this environment, cooling is no longer a supporting discipline; it is a defining factor in performance, resilience, and long-term viability.
At STULZ, this reality has shaped how we approach data centre cooling globally and how we work with partners here in the UK. For more than 50 years, we have specialised in cooling mission-critical environments, supporting colocation, hyperscale, enterprise, and telecom data centres worldwide. That experience informs everything we do, but we always apply it with local conditions firmly in mind.
Our brand positioning – YOUR CLIMATE. OUR MISSION. – reflects this philosophy. ‘YOUR CLIMATE’ recognises that every data centre has its own thermal signature, influenced by location, application, load profile, and operating strategy. At the same time, it acknowledges the growing need for efficient, sustainable operations in a changing global climate. ‘OUR MISSION’ defines STULZ’s role within that context: taking responsibility for reliable operation, precise system design, and long-term efficiency across the full lifecycle of the cooling system.
As I often emphasise in conversations with UK stakeholders, ‘Effective cooling today is about far more than maintaining temperature. It is about designing systems that remain efficient, resilient, and adaptable as demands continue to evolve.’
One of the defining challenges facing the data centre industry is the steady rise in power density. Traditional air-cooled environments are increasingly being complemented by higher-density zones driven by AI, advanced analytics, and specialised workloads. These applications place new demands on cooling infrastructure, not only for heat removal but also for predictability, controllability, and long-term flexibility.
At the same time, the industry is navigating how and where technologies such as liquid cooling and free cooling can be applied most effectively. These approaches offer significant potential, but only when integrated into a coherent, system-level design. Cooling is our core competence, from managing the interaction between heat and cold to supporting both current and future density requirements. Our focus is not on individual products, but on how complete cooling architectures perform under real-world operating conditions.
This system perspective is closely linked to sustainability. Energy efficiency, operational stability, and long-term economic performance are not competing objectives. When cooling is engineered correctly, they reinforce each other. That is why sustainability at STULZ is driven by design choices, not short-term optimisation.
Globally, STULZ operates with a clear ‘think global, act local’ mindset. Proven engineering principles, technologies, and operational experience are developed and refined across international markets, then adapted to meet local requirements. In the UK, this means working closely with data centre consultants, contractors, and owners to align cooling strategies with regulatory frameworks, site constraints, and operational ambitions.
‘Our role is to bring global expertise into local projects in a way that is practical, relevant, and future-focused,’ I often say. ‘The best solutions are the ones that work not just on day one, but throughout the entire lifecycle of the data centre.’
Availability and reliability remain non-negotiable in mission-critical environments. At the same time, scalability is essential as data centres continue to grow and change. STULZ cooling solutions are designed to evolve alongside these developments, supporting long-term resilience and performance.
In a market where perception does not always reflect reality, my focus is clear: demonstrating engineering depth, cooling competence, and system-level thinking. ‘YOUR CLIMATE. OUR MISSION.’ is not a promise of products. It is a commitment to responsibility, expertise, and partnership in the UK data centre market.
