16 June 2025

Expert view:

Why access to power is key for growth in the data centre sector

From the moment we wake each morning, technology is now fundamental to our daily lives. And what feeds this increasingly smart technology as it learns and adapts to suit an individual? Data.

From interactive building user controls to computer software, and from tv streaming to grocery shopping, all these things have a vast appetite for data. As a result, the facilities which store and process this data are in ever higher demand.

To find out more about this booming sector, we caught up with our Regional Director for Structures, Alison Doubell.

If there is one major trend in the built environment industry, it’s the continuing rise in demand for data centres. As we become more and more reliant on smart technology in our personal and professional lives, so the data processing and storage capacity of these facilities needs to increase. So how do operators in this field keep pace with these demands?

A low-carbon solution: retrofit and repositioning

Often the initial answer is to explore the potential of retrofitting or extending existing facilities to harness the latest technology or up-rate the current operating systems. But this can place greater demands on a building’s structure and mechanical and electrical systems. To help accommodate this, we work in partnership with asset owners to review and then make targeted design interventions to help maximise the frame and building services capabilities already on offer within their existing buildings. This approach can lead to embodied and operational carbon savings when compared to either building a new asset or making significant alterations and additions to an existing building.

Ark’s Spring Park in Corsham, Wiltshire, is a prime example of how sequential upgrades can keep existing assets functioning at high capacity for longer. Our team has worked in partnership with major data centre operator, Ark, since 2002 to support this process, seeing our specialists provide detailed assessments, designs and commissioning for a huge range of upgrades. Over the years, this has included the addition of standby generators, 40MVA site-wide infrastructure upgrades for 33kV and 11kV networks, FAT and on-site witness testing, in addition to FMEA of critical systems and IST of the data centres themselves.

Powering up: the site selection challenge

When considering where to build a new data centre, one thing above all others is fundamental: access to a suitable power supply. Data centres are extremely power-hungry, and having access to the required capacity in local power networks is vital. Beyond that, they can be housed in any number of locations, providing they have adequate data network availability and logistics accessibility.

With strong power and data networks often already in place, we’ve recently seen an uplift in utilising urban sites for such purposes. Whether this is achieved through a newly built facility or via the re-positioning of an existing building, these schemes can be highly successful if local infrastructure and connectivity can accommodate the high power demands. Not only that, but the repositioning of existing office or light industrial spaces to data centres can be highly lucrative for developers due to excellent ROI figures.

After carrying out due diligence processes, our team helps clients to secure the right site and support the planning process where permission to build or for change-of-use is required. For retrofit schemes, we facilitate the repositioning by carrying out detailed assessment of the existing frame and mechanical and electrical systems, before making targeted interventions to accommodate the higher load capacities and building performance criteria required by data processing and storage equipment. Community impact is sometimes a concern, and we are actively addressing these issues with environmentally and acoustically sensitive designs which are helping alleviate perceptions of data centres being ‘bad neighbours’ for local populations.

Alison Doubell, staff image

Looking to the future: AI and beyond

There can be no doubt that the requirement for data centres will keep increasing exponentially, especially with the advent of AI and its integration into any number of processes, research fields and technologies. In terms of delivering the facilities to support the demand for data centre space, I believe we will see a further rise in the repositioning and retrofit of existing buildings for this function. If the right buildings and sites are selected, this approach can yield financial, carbon and programme savings when compared to newly built solutions, so there are strong incentives for developers and operators to go down the retrofit route.

Want to learn more about how we’re helping deliver major data centre developments across the UK? Head to our dedicated Data Centres webpage to find out more.