A built environment perspective on data centres

by Anna Saveleva and Riccardo Bobisse 



GTR’s data cente in Southall. Image credit: Chetwoods Architects.   

The exponential rise in demand for data centres—propelled by AI, cloud computing, and digital services—has fundamentally redefined their standing. No longer just digital factories, they are now recognised as Critical National Infrastructure that supports all aspects of modern life, from social media to scientific research.

This status, however, presents a significant dichotomy. While data centres offer major opportunities for innovation and economic diversification, their substantial physical requirements (for land, power, and water) place a strain on existing infrastructure dedicated to housing, services, and other employment. These competing dynamics are more visible in urban areas.

Based on our previous work with data centres and independent research, we strongly believe we must address these tensions by changing our approach and treating them as challenges that require bespoke spatial solutions.

The evolving form of data centres

The UK currently hosts approximately 500 data centres, a number projected to increase by 20% over the next five to ten years. However, this growth is not uniform across the known typologies. The trend points to the following two growing sectors:

The dominant hyperscale format. We are witnessing a trend towards the development of massive (between 80 and 200 ha) campuses, driven by AI. These facilities are characterised by their sheer scale and extreme rack density, typically requiring power demand over 40 megawatts. This means that these space and energy-hungry facilities are inappropriate for dense urban areas and best suited for peripheral locations where they do not compete directly with other uses.



Proposed hyperscale data centre in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Source, Image source.

Decentralised facilities (based on edge computing). Conversely, the need for low latency (the wait time experienced by the data as it travels from the source to the destination and back) is driving the emergence of "micro data centres". These smaller facilities, typically providing up to 20 racks, occupy a small footprint and can be integrated into the existing urban fabric more easily. Modular versions provide reliable performance and versatility in integration within buildings.



Secure I.T. Environments, modular data centre project with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Source

Urban infrastructure strain and planning conflicts

The expansion of data centres poses some physical risks to the way we plan our cities, in particular relating to utility strain and job density.

Land use competition and intensification



Data centre employment

Data centres have a low jobs-per-hectare ratio, making the securing of prime industrial land contentious. It is a difficult issue, however, rather than framing it as a binary choice between data centres and other industries, we could look to resolve this conflict through spatial intensification. For instance, there are opportunities to stack industrial uses (e.g., multi-level small industrial units) on a portion of a site so that it is possible to maintain job numbers while releasing the remaining land for data centre use. Combining the data centre floorspace with industrial uses within one taller building is also an option.

It also has to be noted that, despite a lower jobs-per-hectare ratio, data centres can drive investment in urban regeneration, improving the physical area and widening the range of jobs locally. There is also reason to expect different jobs-per-hectare ratios across data centre types, based on their operational models.

However, the claims that these facilities deliver predominantly high-profile, high-skill jobs should be taken with a pinch of salt, since a substantial proportion of the positions created are elementary occupations such as cleaning and security staff, as our ongoing research seems to suggest (more to follow!).

Utilities

In West London, data centre power demands have caused some disruptions to housing delivery, and the draft New London Plan warns that data centres risk monopolising power grid capacity, thereby displacing housing. In fairness, the press has often amplified the challenge; however, clear planning is required to minimise the risk. At the same time, we must also be cautious of speculative data centre projects, as they could inflate energy demand, potentially leading to the oversizing of costly infrastructure (including new power stations) if the projects do not materialise.

The demand for other types of infrastructure is also increasing, with water consumption expected to increase significantly. For example, Thames Water has warned that the demand from data centres is a major factor in their forecast of a 1 billion litre per day shortfall in London’s water supply by 2050 if no new infrastructure (like the proposed Abingdon Reservoir) is built.

In water-stressed areas, operators are moving toward air cooling or non-potable water sources like treated sewage effluent, or heat exchange systems cooled by canal water and seawater (canalside, floating or submerged data centres). Environmental impacts of the latter need to be more closely evaluated. Waste heat recovery (using the water heated with the closed-loop systems outlined above) is a promising area of development, which can transform data centres from simple energy consumers into active contributors to the urban energy fabric.



Waste heat reuse system in Stockholm. Souce

Spatial planning considerations

A successful data centre strategy requires a more nuanced approach to location, moving beyond a simple black and white view to embrace a diversity of sites and locations, including hyperscale facilities in remote areas, with smaller facilities integrated into cities for optimal connectivity.

The UK is shifting toward a strategic spatial planning approach for data centres, moving away from market-driven clustering, not least to avoid overwhelming local power grids. New clusters are being proposed in locations with renewable power supply, e.g. in Scotland. The trade-off for such locations is latency, which is crucial for responsive high-performance computing. Data centre developers, to address this issue, are actively investigating ways to decouple data centre locations from the existing grid by exploring on-site power generation solutions, including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

Capturing the waste heat offers significant potential, with London's data centres alone theoretically able to heat 500,000 homes. Realising this benefit is not straightforward, however. Key challenges exist, including the need for advanced planning of heat off-take infrastructure (as retrofitting is prohibitively expensive), dispersing excessive heat in warmer months with low demand, and having the right receptor facilities in proximity.

Integrating data centres

An average data centre needs a one-hectare site and is usually on two floors. Currently, building the data centres horizontally is more cost-efficient. Due to the technical considerations, data centres are essentially big boxes. Integrating these into the urban fabric is a significant challenge. The goal is to ensure they look attractive, especially from the street, and go beyond the conventional image of large, grey, utilitarian sheds.

Data centres require strict security, including fencing and separation zones, adding to the problem of integration. The visual impact of hostile fencing can be softened with landscape buffers using low-level planting. For instance, rain gardens can act as an additional natural security barrier, helping keep people away from the perimeter in an aesthetically pleasing way.

From a massing point of view, to mitigate the scale of these windowless structures, architects can articulate the crown (top) of the building differently from its lower levels. Using different colours or materials can help the top of the building recede into the sky, reducing its visual dominance. At the same time, high-quality materials, vertical greening, and textured facade treatments on large blank walls can be used to create visual interest, breaking up overly large expanses and avoiding the use of a simple pattern book approach.Active frontages, an urban design mantra, are virtually impossible in large data centres; however, the design can strongly accentuate entrances, providing a visible presence and a sense of activity from the street, countering the inactive blank frontage effect.



The 12-story Equinix data centre in Amsterdam. Source

Alternatively, there is potential to incorporate complementary uses within the same building as the data centre if the vertical data centre model is adopted, which is highly likely in the dense urbanised areas. This could not only result in better Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), but also allow for more effective heat recovery – the transferred heat decreases with distance. Residential, office, and commercial floor space could be integrated either within the same block or within a wider development cluster. Locating these active uses along the street frontage can help create a more animated site/building edge. However, this approach is generally most suitable for small- to medium-sized data centres and is less applicable to large-scale, out-of-town developments.Community relationship

Data centres often face local opposition based on perceptions regarding their environmental impact. In general, it is difficult to object that they are bad news for sustainability, given their massive carbon footprint; however, there are also some bad neighbour concerns that should be tackled if we are serious about integrating this infrastructure into our cities.

A primary public concern is traffic. Data centres typically generate less traffic than logistics or industrial warehouses. However, centrally-located data centres integrated within mixed-use blocks or clusters will still attract additional traffic compared to not having such facilities co-located. We need to carefully consider the access routes and parking provision. To some extent, navigating these constraints is a trade-off for receiving potential heat recovery and a low-latency facility, and if such technologies are available, it may be worth pursuing.

The other big concern is noise. Noise pollution is a consistent issue, caused primarily by the continuous operation of cooling fans, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Additional noise can be generated during periodic generator testing. Research shows that noise levels in the immediate vicinity can reach up to 96 dB, comparable to a lawnmower or strong wind. At greater distances, however, noise levels can reduce and may become negligible, resembling general background street noise. Careful consideration is therefore needed regarding the location of data centre facilities, particularly near residential areas. This involves establishing appropriate orientation of fans, setbacks or buffers (including incorporating other land uses) to mitigate the impact of both noise and the significant difference in scale. The integration of new cooling technologies and the enforcement of stricter regulations are expected to mitigate these noise challenges in the coming years.



Noise levels reduce with distance, resembling the background street noise

Consideration should also be given to how social value can be secured to offset the low job density associated with these facilities. More clarity regarding the added job titles and required skills is needed to assess local benefits.

Data centre developments present a valuable chance to enhance and modernise critical urban infrastructure—such as the ageing electricity grids, local water systems, and fibre networks—thereby meeting the increasing demands of competitive city centres.

Conclusion

The rapid growth of data centres reflects an increasingly close relationship between the digital and physical worlds, as digital infrastructure becomes ever more embedded within the built environment. Yet, as long as we view data centres as resource drains, we will remain stuck in conflict. Cities, developers and designers must start viewing them not as silos, but as nodes in a complex system—as sources of waste heat for our homes, for infrastructure upgrades, and catalysts for site intensification.

To unlock this potential, we need clever integration strategies that bridge the gap between technical requirements and social value. The data centre is here to stay, so it is up to us to design it into the fabric of our cities.