Editor’s Note:

This article is part of Entralon Hub’s Leadership View series, where senior industry leaders examine the structural forces reshaping real estate development, capital allocation, and asset resilience across emerging asset classes.

In this feature, Roberto Monzon Garces, Chief Commercial Officer at Consolis Tecnyconta, explores why precast concrete is increasingly positioned not as a construction choice, but as a strategic enabler in the fast-growing, mission-critical data centre sector.

Why the Data Centre Market Is Forcing a Rethink of Construction Logic

The rapid expansion of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and hyperscale digital infrastructure has turned data centres into one of the most demanding real estate asset classes today.

Unlike traditional commercial or industrial developments, data centres operate under non-negotiable constraints: speed to delivery, operational resilience, physical security, and long-term performance certainty.

As a result, construction decisions are no longer driven primarily by cost or architectural flexibility. They are driven by time, reliability, and risk containment.

This shift is forcing developers, contractors, and investors to reconsider which construction systems can realistically meet these requirements at scale.

Speed to Market as a Strategic Advantage

One of the defining pressures in data centre development is time. Hyperscale operators and infrastructure providers compete on deployment speed as much as on computing capacity. Delays do not simply affect schedules; they affect market positioning.

Precast concrete systems respond directly to this pressure by enabling parallel construction logic. While site preparation progresses, structural elements can be manufactured off-site under controlled conditions.

This overlap shortens delivery timelines without compressing critical quality or safety phases, a structural advantage rather than a scheduling trick.

In a market where demand growth consistently outpaces available capacity, faster delivery becomes a competitive differentiator, not just an operational benefit.

Structural Performance in a Mission-Critical Environment

Data centres place exceptional demands on their physical structure. High load capacities, strict vibration tolerance, fire resistance, and robustness are baseline expectations rather than premium features.

Precast concrete offers a combination of characteristics that align naturally with these needs:

  • High structural load-bearing capacity
  • Inherent fire resistance
  • Stability under continuous operational stress
  • Predictable performance over long operational lifecycles

Rather than relying on layered solutions to achieve these outcomes, precast systems integrate performance into the structure itself, reducing complexity and dependency on secondary systems.

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Security and Resilience as Core Design Requirements

Security in data centres is not limited to digital infrastructure. Physical protection, access control, and resilience against external threats are embedded into design criteria from the outset.

Hardened building envelopes, controlled access points, and resistance to impact or blast loads are increasingly standard requirements.

Precast concrete’s mass and structural integrity allow these features to be addressed at the building-fabric level, rather than retrofitted or layered later in the project.

For investors and operators, this translates into lower long-term risk exposure and greater confidence in asset durability.

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Sustainability Through Durability and Lifecycle Thinking

Sustainability in mission-critical infrastructure is often misunderstood as purely an energy discussion. In reality, material longevity, reduced waste, and lifecycle efficiency play an equally important role.