Sydney’s 45 Drives is planning for the future and investing in a new, modern building to house its growing operations. 

Construction of a new 10,000 square foot building (shown above) is well underway at 56 Wabana Court in the Harbourside Industrial Park, adjacent to the headquarters of parent company Protocase.

45 Drives provides affordable, enterprise data-storage solutions based upon open-source computer hardware and software. Their servers are developed and manufactured in Sydney, and sold to clients all over the world. The company will house all departments in the new facility, including Sales, Marketing, Engineering, R&D, and Technical Support.

Doug Milburn

Chairman & VP Sales & Marketing

“Our new building will not only give us the space to hire more people, but also provide us with room for more innovation," said Doug Milburn, Chairman & VP Sales & Marketing of 45 Drives.  "We will have a state-of-the-art engineering lab that will allow our team to create and test new products, and a full server room. We will have multiple meeting and webinar rooms for future collaborations and creative space, and a full media room for video production, marketing, and promotion.”

The building construction also incorporates SoleraWall glass into its exterior walls. SoleraWall is produced locally at Advanced Glazings in Sydney River. SoleraWall is designed to bring diffused sunlight into a building to reduce electricity consumption and create a healthier environment for employees. The advanced insulating properties of SoleraWall also help reduce heating costs.

Ground was broken on the new 45 Drives site in the fall of 2020 and completion is slated for May 2021. The final cost is estimated to be approximately $3 million.

“Over the last few years, we have been growing exponentially, and our current infrastructure doesn’t allow us to further expand,” said Milburn. “We can’t wait to get our team into this new building.” 

45 Drives' investment in their future is another sign of the increased optimism in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality that has led to a boom in the local construction industry that is expected continue for the next 5-7 years. 

This post is part of The Big Build series of articles. If you'd like to read related posts, click on the links below.

The Big Build — Billion-Dollar Construction in the CBRM