Why can’t we have data center skyscrapers, instead of sprawling buildings spread across many acres? And why do data centers have to be big gray buildings, can’t they be better looking?

These very good questions came up recently at a dinner because, well, data centers are what people talk about now. I had a few answers to offer. But my colleagues at Data Center Knowledge have much better insight, with two articles around these very topics. They’re two examples of how the data center buildout is starting to spark creativity in design.

One looks at a proposed 20-story data center tower in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, that’s under review. Delivering 24 MW of IT load, the facility would cost more to develop, at around $1,300 per square foot, than a conventional suburban/rural data center. The developer says it makes sense for time-sensitive workloads like AI inferencing. “We are not arguing that every data center belongs downtown,” says Michael Martin, managing director of data center operations at JLL. “We are arguing this one does, and we are paying a construction premium to prove it.”

The second article looks at whether better-looking data centers, tapping into community co-design, biomimicry, and brownfield redevelopment, could help data centers be more popular in a community.

Could Better Design Reduce Resistance?

The second article offers examples of data center developers working harder to make their buildings fit better in a community. Microsoft uses biomimicry, meaning landscaping and designs that mirror and enhance the local environment, improving the view, soil health, stormwater management, and habitat. The global architecture firm Gensler concluded in a recent report that design is a decisive factor in community acceptance: “Residents prioritized issues architects can directly address: overall building appearance, massing, materials, and height.”

The engineering firm Hoare Lea wrote a “Social Charter” for data centers that maps how a data center developer should engage with communities, including co-creating the design.

Data centers aren’t going to beautify their way out of community opposition. More pleasing designs can help, as Gensler notes. And design means a lot more than good looks – great design can reduce noise, improve air circulation and energy efficiency, all of which concern people about data centers. And as the skyscraper concept shows, design can be directly tied to the use case for the compute inside a data center. As edge AI compute demands grow, data centers will need to keep adapting to urban contours. So look for data center design to keep evolving, including getting designers and architects involved even earlier in data center, planning and development.

Here at Data Center World, we’re collaborating with design and construction leaders to connect the people driving new ideas in data center development. At Data Center World Canada, Dec. 2-4, we’re focusing all our sessions on construction and design, including how data centers are driving innovation and where they need a lot more innovation. And at our flagship Data Center World 2027 in Nashville in May, we have one of our five conference tracks devoted to Design, Construction, and Supply Chain.