Quark, the leading data center engineering and design firm in southern Europe, celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Founded in 2009 by Miguel Gallego and Ricardo Abad, the company has consolidated itself as a key player in the market: currently, it has a portfolio of more than 60 designed data centers, with an accumulated power of 600 MW and 250,000 square meters of built rooms. Both main colocation companies and prominent private companies are amongst its clients, such as Nabiax, Box2bit, Digital Realty, Equinix, Cyrus One, Formation, NTT, Prime or Iron Mountain.

Ricardo Abad, CEO of Quark, highlights: “Quark is a dream come true that concretely defines our desire to leverage the knowledge of the best engineers and architects for the service of the data center market. Today, our professionals are respected and recognized at an international level and we have achieved a company model very beloved by our clients and partners, which differentiates itself by its ability to collaborate in an open and dynamic way with them, accepting any challenge that we face”.

And he concludes: “this year marks the 15th anniversary of Quark, and the first since its acquisition by the Sener group: we thank the group for its trust and help to ensure that the firm can take its next big qualitative leap, with the focus put on its internationalization”.

In 2023, the firm was acquired by the Sener group, with the objective of leveraging its international presence and experience in the energy sector and in other fields of engineering, with significant advances in complex projects. During this year, Quark secured 50% more contracts than the previous year and increased its workforce by 40 people, surpassing 100 employees. On the occasion of his anniversary, Jorge Sendagorta, CEO of the Sener group, has declared: “We celebrate a year since Quark and Sener merged their capabilities. In this brief space of time, Quark has advanced its internationalization plans (…) We have contracts and offers with many of the most relevant players in the industry. I am sure that fascinating projects, international markets and much engineering and technology await us.”

The growth of the business and the incorporation of the Sener group is facilitating its expansion at international and national level: in Spain, Quark announced the opening of a technological hub for the design of data centers in Bilbao, at Sener’s headquarters, where it will incorporate 50 professionals in the coming years; the announcement follows the opening of an office in Barcelona. More recently and out of the country, Quark has opened delegations in Germany (Frankfurt) and in Portugal (Lisbon), after being awarded important projects in these and other European countries, such as France.

In these 15 years, the professional recognition obtained by Quark has materialized in several international awards, coming from organizations such as Uptime Institute, Datacenter Dynamics and IDC, which highlight the value and innovation of its solutions, efficiency and attention to detail.

Ismael Martínez, – until now, head of Sener’s facilities engineering hub – has been appointed Managing Director of Quark, a leading engineering company for data centers. The appointment follows the acquisition of Quark by technology and engineering group Sener in May.

Ismael Martínez will be part of Quark’s managing board, along with the founders and CEOs of the firm, Ricardo Abad, and Miguel Gallego. Martínez will lead the integration of Quark into Sener and the internationalization of the company’s operations, a key aspect in its strategic growth plan.

Martínez began his career at Sener in 2005. He has worked in different markets, such as Spain, Mexico, France and the United Arab Emirates, leading projects of high technical complexity, among others, the design work of urbanization and galleries services for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the largest experimental fusion facility in the world, designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological viability of this type of energy. Martínez holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and a degree in energy engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

With this appointment, Sener reinforces the main objectives set after the acquisition: leveraging Quark’s high degree of specialization in a market with high demand, adding the synergies provided by Sener at a technological, operational and innovation level (in sectors such as mobility, energy or digital), as well as the group’s global presence. Currently, Sener has offices in nearly 20 countries and more than 3,400 professionals, which will favor Quark’s internationalization.

In the words of Martínez: “I appreciate the trust placed in leading the integration and internationalization process of Quark, a key player in a critical market for the digital economy such as data centers. By adding Sener’s technological capabilities and global reach, I am confident that Quark will successfully address its next stage of growth.”

And he adds: “More than ever, the sector requires complex technological capabilities to satisfy its growing energy needs in a sustainable way, moving towards emissions neutrality.” Sener has extensive experience in the energy and renewable sector, addressing projects that allow its clients to achieve maximum efficiency in the transition towards a sustainable and low-emission energy model, through innovation and technology. For example, the construction of a 2.5 MW electrolyzer for the generation of green hydrogen for the Petronor refinery, the engineering of six biomethane plants for Ence or the first regasification plant for the onshore regasification terminal in Germany (German LNG) stand out.

Founded in 2009, Quark has grown exponentially in recent years. Today, it leads the data center engineering sector in southern Europe and is one of the top 20 companies globally in this segment. He has designed cutting-edge facilities for clients such as Equinix, Digital Realty, Nabiax, Cyrus One, Iron Mountain and Prime Data Centers, and for corporate clients such as Inditex or BBVA.