APL builds a new free cooling data center for Groupama

Published on May 27, 2026 -

Groupama Systèmes d'Information (GSI), which manages all the IT for the Groupama insurance group, decided to create a data center intended to serve as a backup for the historic Bourges site and to host part of its development IT.

Client company

Groupama

Industry

Insurance

Type of support

Consulting - Project management

Type of service

Design support and construction of a high energy performance data center

Context and objectives of the assignment

GSI entrusted APL, which was in charge of upgrades at the historic site, with the construction of this new 3,250 m² data center, named "M2" and located in the Rennes region.

Establish a data center with high availability
Anticipate growth in IT requirements
Guarantee the energy efficiency of the site
Comply with the flood risk prevention plan and seismic regulations

Completed assignments

Design support: sizing, comparison of the different options for aisle containment and IT load distribution
Thermal simulation to compare the different layout scenarios and anticipate changes
Layout planning for the 4 rooms with 200 m² of IT floor area
Economic and environmental analysis: estimate of energy consumption and PUE, gains provided by free cooling

Client benefits

Data center designed and built within the specified timeframe (18 months)
HPE (high energy performance) site: HQ energy, lighting, cooling of facilities (free cooling backed up by chilled water air conditioners)
Scalability of the data center architecture and its facilities to absorb the increase in load (power evolution of the rooms from 1.5 kW HQ/m² to 3 kW HQ/m²)
Redundancy of all technical facilities (electrical and cooling chains) to guarantee service continuity in the event of work, maintenance, IT load evolution, etc.
Economic performance of the site, which has very low operating costs

Our solutions for

APL Data Center designs and optimizes critical infrastructures capable of meeting the major challenges of the digital age: data security, service continuity, scalability, cost control and sustainability.
Through a global approach integrating innovation and CSR, we support every type of client in creating next-generation data centers tailored to their uses and constraints.

Hyperscaler

On the scale of major cloud operators, APL Data Center designs and deploys infrastructures built for performance, resilience and energy efficiency, to support the global rise of cloud and AI and to build the responsible data centers of tomorrow.

Colocation

Faced with the challenges of availability and proximity of digital services, APL Data Center supports hosting providers in creating modular, secure, and scalable data centers. Designed infrastructures meet the needs of distributed cloud and edge architectures.

Company

To support the digital transformation of organizations, APL Data Center designs and optimizes reliable, scalable, and sustainable data centers. These sovereign infrastructures meet the performance, security, and compliance requirements of businesses.

Public sector

Serving public sector actors, APL Data Center designs secure, compliant, and eco-efficient data centers that meet regulatory requirements and digital sovereignty challenges while guaranteeing service continuity.