“Neocloud” describes the business, not the site requirements.
A facility serving GPU customers, regional enterprise workloads or a mix of tenants can have different power densities, network traffic and resilience requirements. Give the site search a concrete brief: expected IT demand, cooling approach, required bandwidth, physical route requirements and the first date you need service.
Atlas’s small profile starts at 5 MW of utility demand, 4 MW of IT demand at the illustrative 1.25 PUE, dry cooling, and a request for 10 Gbps across two routes. The 1 ha land-search input is a prompt for comparison, not a layout standard. These are editable starting assumptions, not market-wide definitions of a small or neocloud facility.
Document the initial load and the ultimate load separately. For example, commissioning one hall before the rest of the facility is occupied creates a ramp-up question as well as a final-capacity question. Keep the phases, dates and cooling assumptions visible when asking for service. Do not use the 5 MW preset to imply that a larger intended build-out has cleared any allocation requirements.
Dated BC example / Surrey
A Campbell Heights reference point brings land use to the front.
The selected coordinate 49.046, −122.709 is a reference point labelled Surrey Campbell Heights. It is not a property listing. In the October 26, 2026 retained screen, the point resolved to parcel 013-239-171, with approximately 14.821 ha of mapped area. The zoning response at the pin was Surrey: A1.
Whole-footprint analysis found an Agricultural Land Reserve overlap of approximately 99.92% of that mapped parcel. The result changes the order of the next enquiries: confirm the boundary, applicable land-use rules and approval path before spending time treating the parcel’s gross area as development space.
The ALC explains that land use must comply with both ALR rules and local bylaws. A zoning label alone does not answer that combined question. Ask the municipality and, where applicable, the ALC about the specific proposal. Read the ALC guidance for buying and owning ALR land.
This coordinate is different from the older 19526 24 Avenue example. Evidence from one Surrey point should not be carried over to another, even when both sit within the same broader search area.
Evidence date and scope
This example uses a retained automated screen assembled . Its overall source status was partial. The parcel record carries a source date of 2026-01-22; other records have their own acquisition dates. A recent query date does not make every underlying record current.
The analysis uses the unique mapped parcel under the selected point. That parcel may cover only part of a marketed property. No site visit, legal boundary survey, human verification or owner confirmation is represented.
Snapshot reference: 31fd87752cb01cbe11bd3e38874559bfd9f9c81ce597696ecbd86307c38a9413
Publisher records: ParcelMap BC · BC transmission lines · Agricultural Land Reserve polygons.
Request the service you intend to operate.
Electricity: keep the load ramp and connection path together.
Ask the supplier to identify the appropriate connection process for the site and requested demand. BC Hydro says major distribution projects can take years to plan, design and construct; its initial servicing proposal is based on the first phase’s estimated maximum demand. Changes in the request can change study assumptions, costs and timing. Read BC Hydro’s major distribution connection process.
The Province’s allocation framework covers certain BC Hydro AI and data-centre projects at 10 MW or more, subject to project status. If the ultimate proposal reaches that scale, raise it early with the utility rather than treating a smaller initial phase as the complete project. Read the industrial electricity allocation framework.
Fibre: two provider names are not a route plan.
For a two-route requirement, ask for a drawing showing where each route enters the property and which ducts, poles, bridge crossings or upstream facilities are shared. Record required capacity, delivery dates and any dependencies in the carrier responses. Atlas’s 10 Gbps figure is the service you request; an area broadband polygon cannot confirm it. Check ISED’s published broadband-map limitations.
Water: include the plant outside the data hall.
Dry cooling removes evaporative makeup from this Atlas scenario. It leaves domestic demand, fire flow, storage, treatment and peak-day requirements unresolved. A municipal water main near the pin is a useful contact lead. Ask the utility to confirm the service arrangement and design flows for the complete facility, including future phases.
Use the same operating brief across the shortlist.
Screen the candidate locations under one profile first. Then compare the unresolved questions: connection studies, permitted use, cooling supply and actual carrier routes. Changing inputs between sites can make a comparison look better without improving the evidence.
For a shortlisted site, retain the selected boundary and source dates, generate an automated report and add the information you have obtained directly. A written utility response or a carrier route drawing can be more decisive than another broad map layer. The commissioned review reconciles public evidence with authorized private and paid data sources, where available, to agree what the first concept should test.
From a location to a project brief
Make the shortlist useful to a design team.
Driftwood can help examine the records behind a candidate site, clarify the unresolved service and land questions, and develop an initial concept around an agreed operating brief.
$7,500 CAD covers a human-reviewed site report and 25 hours of design consultation and concept development. Those 25 hours are additional to report preparation. The separate paid review brings public evidence together with authorized private and paid data sources, where available: licensed property or utility data and authorized utility or carrier responses. Driftwood checks each record’s source, date, site and project scope, reconciles it with the public screen and documents confirmed items, conditions and unresolved questions for concepts and next steps.
The free automated screen uses public data. Before work begins, Driftwood confirms scope, record availability, permissions, any third-party fees, deliverables, timing, taxes and terms. Utility studies, service commitments, approvals and construction documents require separate work.
This is general planning guidance and a dated automated example, not a reviewed opinion on a particular development. The example site is not represented as a customer project or currently available property. Available power, industrial water service and enterprise connectivity remain unconfirmed. Opening Atlas runs the current workflow; updated results may differ.