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ABI Research suggests the surge in compute demand is driving a global wave of new data center construction, forcing operators to rethink how facilities are designed, built, and scaled

In sum – what to know:

Reference designs cut time and risk – Pre-validated blueprints reduce complexity, shorten construction timelines, and limit costly rework as data center demand accelerates.

AI is driving standardization – Rising power densities and advanced cooling needs make repeatable, AI-ready designs essential for hyperscale expansion.

Collaboration enables scale – Tight coordination across compute, networking, power, and facilities vendors is critical to building scalable, repeatable data center infrastructure.

As artificial intelligence and hyperscale workloads accelerate, data center design is becoming more complex—and more critical, according to a recent ABI Research blog post.

The consultancy firm noted that the surge in compute demand is driving a global wave of new data center construction, forcing operators to rethink how facilities are designed, built, and scaled.

One approach gaining momentum is the use of data center reference designs. These standardized architectural frameworks provide a common foundation for construction, covering everything from cooling strategies and power architecture to regional compliance requirements. By aligning the full technology stack, reference designs help reduce fragmentation and improve coordination across systems.

Rather than starting from scratch with every new build, operators can rely on pre-validated designs that have already been tested in the field. This enables faster deployment, lowers construction risk, and minimizes costly redesigns as facilities scale, according to ABI Research.

AI workloads, in particular, are reshaping requirements. Higher rack densities, more advanced cooling methods, and tighter integration between compute, networking, and facilities infrastructure make standardized designs increasingly essential. According to ABI Research, AI and hyperscale facilities will drive the strongest demand for reference designs, as these environments depend on repeatable, high-performance building models.

Reference designs also support modular expansion. Once a design is proven, it can be replicated across sites, allowing operators to scale capacity predictably. At the same time, successful frameworks must remain flexible enough to adapt to local regulations, climate conditions, and energy availability, the research firm said.

However, in certain cases, operators will still need customization. “Operators still need customization where local conditions dominate or pose as restraints to the physical building. Reference designs deliver the most value when they are treated as a baseline architecture rather than a fixed end point, allowing operators to adapt systems as software, controls, and operational technologies evolve at different rates. This means that core aspects of a data center benefit largely from standardized references designs,” Paris McKinley, research analyst at ABI Research and author of the blog post, told RCR Wireless News.

“If standardization goes too far, it could lead to operational lock in, limit scalability, lead to costly redesign, and downtime. Effective reference design strategies must explicitly separate fixed, system-specific designs from open frameworks to enable operators to calibrate architectural specificity to their site, regulatory, and operational constraints,” she added.