As AI creates demand for new data center facilities across the U.S., large architecture firms respond, despite sustainability concerns
Traditionally, data centers have maintained a low profile as largely unremarkable, windowless warehouses. But the push to alternative sites is reshaping how architects are approaching design. “The demand that they’re having to serve is changing so quickly that we do have to reevaluate almost the entire building as part of each delivery,” said Dan Drennan, managing principal and data center leader at Corgan, where 300 of its 1,200 employees work on this project type. “Whether that’s the way the envelope responds to a different location or it’s the way the structure needs to respond to a different configuration based on the availability of land or the piece of land we’re working on. So it’s not as cut-and-paste or repetitive as I think folks might wish.” He also shared that Corgan is doing more multistory configurations than in past years.
