Data centre design is more than just appearance – it ’ s an intricate blend of logistics , energy efficiency and technology implementation . Voices from the industry share their views on achieving a balance between aesthetics , infrastructure and network innovations , stressing the necessity of synchronising real-world applications with the adaptive technologies which form the backbone of our digital systems .

requirements allow , achieving genuinely sculptural results , such as the Portugal Telecom data centre in Covilha .

Whilst anonymity is an acceptable approach in many locations the requirement for low-latency , the availability power or other advantageous adjacencies will increasingly place data centres in more sensitive environments .

CHRIS MASON SENIOR ARCHITECT , STUDIONWA

What is euphemistically known as ‘ the cloud ’ is , in reality , remote storage and processing of data in physical locations . These locations are data centres , and they form an intrinsic of part of the modern world and how it works .

Like most storage buildings throughout history , the design of data centres is driven primarily by the technical requirements of what takes place inside them rather than by consideration of their external expression or context . While there can be a visual appeal to the honest expression of a building ’ s function , in the case of data centres it tends towards the boxy structure .

Data centres are often deliberately anonymous . The move from localised to remote data storage was promoted on the idea of the removal of the physical in favour of the notional cloud . On a practical level , there is also a security advantage in not drawing attention to their location . There are exceptions . Some data centre designs embrace the scale and pure geometry the functional

Where data centres exist in urban areas the issues are particularly acute . The scale and lack of transparency are more suited to industrial environments than a typical urban context . There are also issues with noise and the necessary security measures at site perimeters .

Good design principles can be employed to mitigate these issues :

• Making the most of the outward-facing aspects of the project , the offices and landscaping

• Provide publicly accessible functions such as co-working spaces and tech hubs at the interface with the public realm

• Design the exterior of the buildings to reflect the principles that govern the design of the equipment within them : wellconsidered , adaptable , carefully constructed components using quality materials and made to last

As the need for data storage and the awareness of the environmental impact grows , anonymity may no longer work as a default position . Data centres will have to perform better environmentally and learn to be good neighbours .

60 www . intelligentbuild . tech