26 March marks International Data Centre Day. At a time when such facilities are proliferating in Spain, Felipe Pich Aguilera, a lecturer in the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, warns that this countrywide trend is advancing without “any underlying architectural project or thought for the future of urban development.”
The architect and founder of the architecture studio Picharchitects is an expert in sustainable construction and has been a university lecturer for over 25 years. According to the architect, the growing interest of major technology companies in investing in data centre construction in Spain requires a “forward-looking approach”, as these developments are being carried out without “any thought for urban planning or underlying architectural project”.
According to the Spanish Data Centre Association (SpainDC), investments in this infrastructure are expected to reach €58 billion by 2030, with data centre hubs emerging in regions such as Aragón and Extremadura. According to Felipe Pich, the large-scale proliferation of these data centres may prove problematic in the medium term: “The construction of vast quantities of infrastructure and buildings by large companies operating in their own interests has no aim other than efficiency,” he argues.
In the lecturer's opinion, viewing construction solely through the lens of efficiency can prove “disastrous”. “Taking the housing shortage in Spain as an example, the most efficient, rapid and sustainable approach would be to build a large residential complex that is well-connected to public transport, well insulated and oriented and with minimal materials. However, construction involves multiple dimensions, and focusing solely on efficiency means neglecting many other important factors. And the macro-infrastructure of major tech companies only takes technical aspects into account, without broader reflection beyond its impact on the landscape, for example.”
The future of data centres
The architect questions the long-term viability of such macro-infrastructure: “What is going to happen to all these structures in twenty-five years? Focusing squarely on efficiency could lead to an architectural scenario similar to that of the Second World War, when the buildings constructed in Soviet suburbs to address a specific problem have since become problematic,” explains the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturer.
According to the expert, Spain should have a coordinated approach to territorial planning. “Most of these facilities are located in remote, seemingly isolated areas, and therefore require a significant amount of infrastructure to reach. When all of this becomes obsolete, it will create the ideal opportunity for urban settlement,” predicts the architect. “Yet the decisions will have been made by a foreign company, with little thought for urban planning; and they are the ones shaping the country’s growth,” explains Felipe Pich Aguilera.
Spain, a magnet for major technology companies
Companies such as Meta, Microsoft, Google and Amazon have already set up their first data processing centres in southern Europe in Spain. Land availability is one of the reasons driving interest in the territory. “People speak of ‘empty Spain’ as if it had no intrinsic value. Spain is a node, from north to south; but without broader reflection and a common project, all this infrastructure that will eventually be built here will likely become obsolete within a few years,” concludes the architect.
