By Luke Bonham, Associate

Data usage is outpacing the infrastructure designed to support it, bringing mission critical buildings into denser urban areas. As demand rises, so too do the pressures on scale, complexity and operational performance, making design thinking more critical than ever.

No longer tucked away on the urban fringe, today’s data centres are moving into inner-city environments where space, energy and performance have to be designed smarter, not just scaled bigger.

Design-led solutions for mission critical buildings

Over 15 years in the mission critical sector has taught me that the successful mission critical buildings balance technical precision with design foresight, shaping data centres that are built to evolve. Every site constraint, operational need and future upgrade has to be considered, planned for and integrated from the earliest stages of design.

VIA’s portfolio includes more than $740M in mission critical projects, covering data centre campuses, facility expansions, hyperscaler fitouts and adaptive reuse developments. Clients like NEXTDC, Telstra InfraCo and Zinfra have trusted us to design high-profile facilities that deliver operational excellence.

Our focus is on balancing technical performance with strong design outcomes, creating mission critical buildings that perform under pressure while remaining ready to meet future needs that we can’t fully predict yet.

The shifts reshaping mission critical design

Across the mission critical sector, we’re seeing key design shifts take hold, reshaping how we plan new data centres. Governments, developers and operators are setting ambitious targets for new facilities and delivering on them will depend on how well we can densify existing sites, retrofit where it makes sense, design for urban integration and embed flexibility.

Delivering value through adaptive reuse

As sites around major metro areas become harder to secure, retrofitting data centres into existing structures, from warehouses to commercial towers, is becoming a practical and increasingly sustainable solution. Adaptive reuse demands smarter service integration, more efficient spatial planning and a stronger focus on environmental performance.

Done well, reuse projects can unlock faster delivery programs, greater operational agility and smarter lifecycle outcomes, while significantly reducing the material waste and environmental impact associated with new builds.

Drawing on our experience across live-site retrofits and adaptive reuse projects, we see these transformations not just as technical upgrades, but as opportunities to design facilities with stronger environmental credentials.

Designing critical infrastructure for urban contexts

Now that mission critical buildings are being integrated into urban environments, they can no longer afford to sit apart from their surroundings. They must be designed to coexist with and even enhance our cities.

Design has a critical role to play in making these facilities responsive to their context. Through considered articulation, landscape integration and site planning, data centres can soften their edge and improve the streetscape while creating new opportunities for public realm enhancements.

Rather than being seen as anonymous utilities, future urban data centres have the potential to become essential, visible parts of the urban fabric that are embedded within the surrounding community.

New possibilities for mixed-use precincts

Designing critical infrastructure alongside complementary uses demands a shift in approach; one that considers how cooling, energy and access strategies can support broader precinct outcomes. Tomorrow’s data centres will increasingly be designed as mixed-use precincts, sharing sites with commercial, industrial and even retail and hospitality spaces.

Our work on NEXTDC’s M2 Melbourne Stage 3 is already demonstrating what this future looks like. By combining a high-performance mission critical facility with commercial office spaces, team training zones and client engagement areas, the project shows how critical infrastructure can be utilised on a broader scale, delivering operational performance without losing sight of the human and civic experience.

Why the Future of Data Centres Demands Better Design

Australia is entering a pivotal chapter in the evolution of its digital infrastructure. Growth is certain, but what’s less certain is how that growth is shaped. The data centres we design today will underpin the systems, cities and industries of tomorrow. Their success won’t just be measured by uptime or capacity, it will be measured by their ability to adapt, endure and to contribute to the urban environments they inhabit. The future of mission critical buildings demands sharper thinking, greater foresight and design leadership at every stage.

About the author

Luke Bonham is an Associate at VIA Architects. A seasoned architectural leader and a Green Star accredited professional, Luke drives the studios mission critical portfolio, leading the design and delivery of high-profile data centres across Australia.