A building network carries far more than office traffic now: WiFi, phones, cameras, card readers, building automation and sometimes tenant services all share the same cabling and switches. We design the wired network so each of those gets the capacity, separation and resilience it needs, and so the people who run it later can understand what was built.
Most network problems in buildings are not caused by a faulty switch. They come from decisions nobody made on purpose: a camera system plugged into the office network, a single uplink that carries three floors, a telecom room with no cooling, or an address plan that ran out of room after the second renovation. Good design makes those decisions early and writes them down.
What we design and build
- Topology: how the main distribution frame (MDF), intermediate distribution frames (IDFs) and access switches connect, and how many layers the network needs.
- Segmentation: VLANs, subnets and firewall rules that keep corporate, guest, building systems and security devices apart.
- Redundancy: paired core switches, dual uplinks, diverse cable routes and backup power for the equipment that has to stay up.
- Capacity: uplink speeds, switch port counts, Power over Ethernet (PoE) budgets for access points, cameras and phones, and spare capacity for growth.
- Telecom rooms: rack layouts, power, cooling, grounding and bonding, and space for the next ten years of equipment.
- Addressing and services: IP address plan, DHCP and DNS, time synchronization, and quality of service for voice and video.
- Management and security: a separate management network, logging, access to switch configurations and a plan for firmware updates.
The physical layout usually follows the cabling. Carrier services and the core switches sit in the MDF, fibre backbone runs to an IDF on each floor or zone, and copper runs from each IDF to outlets, access points, cameras and controllers. The design decides what sits at each level and how traffic moves between them.
How it works
- We start with why. A new building, a tenant fit-out, an expansion, recurring outages or a security review each lead to a different scope. We ask what runs on the network today, what is coming, what has to keep working during an outage and who will manage it.
- Survey what is there. We walk the MDF and IDFs, record switches, uplinks, cabling, power and cooling, and gather any existing configurations, address plans and drawings. In an occupied building this is often the first complete picture anyone has had.
- Design. We produce the topology, segmentation plan, IP address plan, redundancy approach, equipment list and telecom room layouts, along with the cabling design where new cable is needed. Where the work includes electrical drawings for permit, those are sealed by a licensed professional engineer where required.
- Review with your team. IT, facilities, security and the building systems contractors all have a stake. We walk through the design with each of them before anything is ordered, because a change on paper is cheap.
- Build and verify. We coordinate or carry out installation and configuration, with electrical work done by licensed electrical contractors under permit. We then test failover, segmentation and performance and record the results.
- Hand over. You receive as-built documentation and configurations, and we walk your team or managed service provider through them.
What to have ready
- A list of systems that will use the network, including building systems, security and any tenant services.
- Existing drawings, switch configurations, address plans and carrier contracts, even if they are out of date.
- Access to telecom rooms, risers and ceiling spaces, and a contact who can open locked rooms.
- Known pain points: outages, slow areas, ports that run out, rooms that overheat.
- Your plans for growth, renovations or new tenants over the next several years.
What you get
A design package your contractors can price and build from, and your IT team can operate. It typically includes a logical topology diagram, physical riser and rack layouts, a VLAN and IP address plan, firewall policy between segments, an equipment list with port and PoE counts, and a test plan. After the build you receive as-built drawings, saved configurations and test results showing that failover and segmentation work as designed.
We write the documents for the next person, not just for the installer. A facility manager should be able to find which IDF serves a room, and an IT contractor should be able to see why a VLAN exists before changing it.
Mistakes we design out
- One uplink from an IDF carrying a whole floor of cameras, access points and phones, with no second path.
- Building systems on a flat network where any laptop can reach a controller.
- Switches on a UPS while the IDF cooling is not, so the room overheats during a long outage.
- PoE budgets sized for today's access points and nothing more, so the next upgrade means new switches.
- An address plan with no room for new floors, tenants or device types.
Who it's for
- Owners and developers planning new buildings or major renovations.
- Property managers taking over a building whose network nobody fully understands.
- Facility managers bringing cameras, access control or building automation onto IP.
- Organizations with sites where downtime is costly: healthcare, data rooms, industrial and education facilities.
- IT teams who want an independent design before a large equipment purchase.
For background, read our guides on network topology for buildings, VLANs and segmentation, building network redundancy and converged networks for building systems. If new cable is part of the job, see our structured cabling service.
Common questions
Do you sell or recommend a particular brand of switch?
No. The design sets out what the equipment must do, such as port counts, uplink speeds, PoE budget and management features, so you can price it from more than one supplier or match what your IT team already supports.
Can you work with our existing IT provider?
Yes. Many clients have a managed service provider who runs the network day to day. We design with them, review the plan together and hand over documentation they can maintain.
Should building systems share the corporate network?
They can share physical infrastructure, but they should be separated logically and controlled at a firewall. Fire alarm systems keep their own listed circuits and are not replaced by the data network. Our guide on converged networks covers the trade-offs.
Do you also design the WiFi?
Wireless design is closely tied to the wired network, since every access point needs a switch port, power and the right VLANs. We plan both together where the project calls for it.