Datacenter buildings are crucial for the smooth functioning of our daily lives. However, their typology is not given a lot of attention by architects, and the public at large. It’s about time we think about their typology and structure as these buildings have become and continue to be important for current and future IT infrastructure.

Let us take you on a tour of the world’s most wonderful data center buildings.

Santiago Sauceda González/Pexels | Developed countries now give great importance to the topography of their data centers

1. Global Switch, North In The UK

In the world of architecture, it is known as the Financial Times Printworks. It is London’s most pleasing data center, which was designed by Grimshaw in the late 1980s.

2. AM3 And AM4 Of The Netherlands

AM4 is a 12-story building, which is accompanied by its sister building, the AM3, and both structures are surrounded by a moat instead of tall metal fences. The taller building is half black and half silver, and keeps getting narrower as you move to the top. This creates an optical illusion that makes the tower look slimmer.

Vlado Paunovic/Pexels | Optical illusion can make the building look slimmer

3. Qianhai Telecommunication Centre In China

This data center is still under construction and is expected to be fully constructed in the year 2023. Once completed, it will become the world's first high-rise data center. The building has a fancy design, representing the binary code of Pi(π), which synchronizes with the architecture’s computational theme.

4. Gak Chuncheon In South Korea

These low-slung buildings are positioned at the foot of Mount Gubong so the air from the mountain’s crevices naturally cools the servers in the building. The credit for its design goes to Kengo, Kuma, and DMP. The building is wide, exposing a huge surface area to the wind which is another cooling technique. The design incorporates sunshade louvers that block the sunlight for maximum cooling.

Miriam Espacio/Pexels | A sunshade louver on a building to reflect sunlight

5. Telehouse North Two In The UK

This multi-story building is London’s newest facility, which was designed by Nicholas Webb Architects. It’s a 62-meter high building which is located at the end of a major road in East London. The facility is described as the most advanced data center as it’s covered in an electronic board pattern that signifies its purpose

So, which of these buildings do you like the most?