Jimmy Choo, Victoria: Cat6 structured cabling and OM4 fibre for a 26,000 sq ft London headquarters
Working with EM Tecnica, ACCL designed and built 450 Cat6 outlets and a resilient fibre and copper backbone for Jimmy Choo’s new London headquarters, coordinated within an unusually restricted 30 mm raised-floor void.
ACCL worked with EM Tecnica to design and build the structured cabling infrastructure for Jimmy Choo’s new London headquarters in Victoria: 450 Cat6 data outlets, a main equipment room, two secondary equipment rooms and a resilient copper and fibre backbone, all coordinated within an approximately 30 mm usable raised-floor void.
The result
The completed project provided Jimmy Choo with:
- 450 Cat6 outlets across the new headquarters
- One main and two secondary equipment rooms
- 24-core OM4 fibre backbone between comms rooms
- 24 Cat6 copper backbone links between comms rooms
- Network design coordinated within a 30mm floor void
- Tested, labelled and documented for handover
Services delivered
Overview
Jimmy Choo’s new London headquarters in Victoria formed part of a high-quality Category B workplace fit-out extending to approximately 26,000 sq ft across four floors. ACCL worked with EM Tecnica during the design and delivery of the communications infrastructure, with responsibility for designing and building the Cat6 structured cabling system and the fibre optic backbone serving the new workplace.
The completed passive network comprised 450 Cat6 data outlets, supported by a main equipment communications room and two secondary equipment rooms, connected using a 24-core OM4 multimode fibre backbone together with 24 Cat6 copper backbone links. The technical specification was important, but the defining challenge was fitting and coordinating the infrastructure beneath a raised floor with only around 30 mm of usable space.
The challenge
The most significant constraint was immediately below the finished office floor. The raised-floor system provided only approximately 30 mm of usable sub-floor depth, and for a Cat B installation containing 450 Cat6 outlets, backbone cabling, power and other building services, this left very little tolerance for poorly planned routes or uncontrolled cable build-up.
ACCL had to consider how 450 Cat6 data cables would be distributed across the workplace, where cable groups could safely cross other services, appropriate bend radii and cable handling, and the effect that small routing changes could have within such a shallow floor void. In a conventional raised-floor environment there is often sufficient depth to accommodate minor changes during installation; at Jimmy Choo, the approximately 30 mm void meant careful and detailed sub-floor coordination was vital from the outset.
Designing around a 30 mm raised-floor void
The limited floor depth turned route planning into one of the most important elements of the project. ACCL worked with the wider project team to coordinate the structured cabling with the other services occupying the floor void, rather than treating data cabling as an isolated installation.
With hundreds of cables converging towards the communications rooms, unmanaged cable routes could quickly have consumed the available space. The installation therefore required disciplined cable distribution and careful sequencing – not simply to make the cables fit, but to create an installation that remained organised, technically sound and practical to maintain.
What ACCL installed
The final installation comprised 450 Cat6 data outlets distributed across Jimmy Choo’s new headquarters. The horizontal cabling was supported by three communications spaces – one main equipment communications room and two secondary equipment rooms – interconnected using two complementary backbone systems: 24-core OM4 multimode fibre and 24 Cat6 copper backbone links.
The fibre provided the high-capacity optical backbone between the equipment rooms, while the Cat6 backbone provided additional copper connectivity as part of the overall infrastructure design. The result was a structured, centrally managed network architecture rather than individual floors operating as isolated cabling installations.
Project context
Premium fashion-sector headquarters · Victoria, Westminster
Structured cabling in Westminster →Planning a Cat B office fit-out in London?
ACCL designed and built 450 Cat6 outlets and a fibre backbone for Jimmy Choo’s headquarters within a 30 mm raised-floor void. Early involvement lets outlet quantities, cabinet locations and backbone routes be reviewed while changes can still be made efficiently.
Main and secondary equipment rooms
The network architecture was built around a main equipment room (MER) supported by two secondary equipment rooms (SERs), allowing the structured cabling serving the workplace to be distributed from appropriate locations while maintaining backbone connectivity between the network spaces. The communications rooms formed the central points for copper and fibre termination, patching and connection to the active network equipment.
Cable density naturally increases as horizontal cabling approaches a communications room, making route planning particularly important in the areas where multiple cable groups converged within the restricted sub-floor void.
Why the sub-floor coordination mattered
A 30 mm raised-floor void leaves very little room for improvisation. If data cables are allowed to cross indiscriminately, accumulate at pinch points or compete with other services for the same route, the available depth can disappear quickly. For the Jimmy Choo project, coordination therefore became an engineering control in its own right: good sub-floor coordination helps protect cable geometry, reduces unnecessary congestion, makes the installation easier to inspect and gives future engineers a more understandable infrastructure to work with.
Technologies used
ACCL’s role
ACCL worked with EM Tecnica to design and build the structured cabling system for the Jimmy Choo headquarters. Our role included:
- Working with EM Tecnica on the cabling design
- Planning horizontal Cat6 distribution
- Coordinating cable routes within the raised-floor void
- Installing 450 Cat6 data outlets
- Delivering the main and secondary comms-room cabling
- Installing the OM4 fibre and Cat6 copper backbones
- Termination, labelling, testing and handover documentation
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Related guidance
Foreword by Wayne
“The Jimmy Choo project is a good example of why structured cabling needs to be considered as part of the building design and not simply as a package of cables to be installed at the end. We had around 450 Cat6 outlets to distribute through the new headquarters, but the real challenge was that we only had approximately 30 mm beneath the raised floor, with power and the other services competing for the same space. Working with EM Tecnica from the design stage meant we could carefully plan the sub-floor routes, the main and secondary equipment rooms and the copper and fibre backbones before the installation developed. It’s exactly the type of project where early involvement from the structured cabling contractor makes a measurable difference.”Wayne Connors, Managing Director, ACCL
Frequently asked questions
What did ACCL install at Jimmy Choo’s London headquarters?
ACCL worked with EM Tecnica to design and build the structured cabling infrastructure for the new headquarters, including 450 Cat6 data outlets, a 24-core OM4 fibre backbone, 24 Cat6 copper backbone links and cabling for the main and secondary equipment rooms.
How many Cat6 data outlets were installed?
ACCL installed 450 Cat6 data outlets across the new headquarters.
How large was the Jimmy Choo London office project?
The Cat B fit-out covered approximately 26,000 sq ft across four floors.
How many communications rooms were included?
The infrastructure was designed around three communications equipment rooms: one main equipment room and two secondary equipment rooms.
What fibre backbone was installed?
ACCL installed a 24-core OM4 multimode fibre optic backbone linking the communications rooms, together with 24 Cat6 copper backbone links.
What was the main installation challenge?
The principal challenge was the extremely restricted raised-floor void. ACCL had only approximately 30 mm of usable depth beneath the raised floor, making detailed coordination of data cabling and other services essential.
Why was sub-floor coordination so important?
With 450 data outlets and other building services sharing a very shallow floor void, poorly coordinated cable routes could quickly have caused congestion and installation conflicts, so routes and sequencing had to be planned carefully as part of the wider Cat B fit-out.
Was this a Cat A or Cat B installation?
This was a full Cat B fit-out, with the structured cabling designed and coordinated as part of the finished workplace infrastructure.
Why should structured cabling contractors be involved early in a Cat B fit-out?
Early involvement allows cable routes, communications rooms, outlet positions and backbone infrastructure to be coordinated before floors and finishes are closed. The Jimmy Choo project demonstrates the value of that approach because the available sub-floor space was exceptionally restricted.
Planning a Cat B office fit-out in London?
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