Growth in Data Centre Construction Highlights the Importance of Speed and Delivery Reliability

For a data centre operator, completing a new facility means being able to make server space available to customers. For a technology company building a data centre for its own use, it means bringing new servers and their computing power into operation. The construction client’s role is to manage delivery so that the building and technical systems are ready for the scheduled installation, testing and commissioning stages.

This connection between construction and data centre operations explains why delivery schedules and construction resources feature prominently in industry market reports. Delays to building works, electrical systems or cooling can also delay the commissioning of server space or equipment. Completing the building is one part of a delivery chain in which every stage must work together.

Growth Increases Demand for Buildings and Technical Systems

In its 2026 market outlook, global real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) forecasts that total global data centre capacity, measured in electrical power, will nearly double between 2026 and 2030. Demand for cloud services and artificial intelligence is increasing the need for server space and the electrical and cooling systems that support it.

JLL also highlights practical constraints on growth: longer lead times, shortages of skilled labour and rising construction costs. For construction clients, this means establishing early when contractors, building products and technical equipment will be available. The owner’s target schedule must align with actual delivery lead times.

Speed to Market Is a Business Priority for Data Centre Owners

Founded in the United Kingdom in 1946, Turner & Townsend is an international consultancy specialising in programme, project and cost management. Its 2026 data centre report highlights how speed to commercial operation is increasingly driving procurement decisions. Data centre developers and operators need partners whose delivery capabilities support the commitments made to customers. This makes suppliers’ manufacturing capacity and delivery resources important selection criteria alongside price.

Cost pressures make the choice of construction method even more significant. According to Turner & Townsend, average data centre construction costs per watt increased by 13 per cent year on year across European and North American markets. Meanwhile, only 19 per cent of survey respondents in the UK and Europe considered contractor capacity in their region sufficient or better. Construction clients must therefore control costs while competing for delivery resources. Solutions that reduce on-site work and accelerate construction address both challenges.

Schedules must consequently account for dependencies between construction activities. When assessing building envelope delivery, for example, the team needs to establish when the structural frame will be ready for element installation and what conditions are required for subsequent internal works. Faster delivery creates value when it also enables the next stage to proceed.

Involve Suppliers While Delivery Options Are Still Open

Turner & Townsend describes how companies developing large data centre programmes are seeking continuity of supply through long-term supplier partnerships. The aim is to secure the availability of products, equipment and delivery resources across successive construction phases. The report also highlights earlier contractor involvement as a means of identifying and allocating delivery risks during design.

Early collaboration enables LapWall to confirm the buildability of the envelope solution and align manufacturing, deliveries and installation with the construction schedule. LapWall’s specialists work with the design team to coordinate element layouts, connections to the structural frame and installation requirements. For the construction client, the benefits are greater schedule certainty and more predictable progress on site.

Off-Site Manufacturing Reduces On-Site Construction Activities

The experience of US data centre operator DataBank illustrates the scale of these construction sites. In early 2026, the company anticipated that the workforce at its Red Oak campus construction site would reach as many as 4,000–5,000 people. Its outlook identifies access to skilled workers and the day-to-day management of a site of this size as major delivery challenges.

DataBank identifies prefabrication as one response: electrical assemblies, for example, are built in a factory before being delivered to site. Moving part of the work into controlled manufacturing conditions reduces the pressure of coordinating labour and activities on a large construction site.

LapWall applies the same principle to the building envelope through its wall and roof elements. These are manufactured off site, shifting the focus on site to element installation. This substantially reduces the labour required during the building envelope phase.

Cost Comparisons Must Cover Equivalent Scopes of Supply

JLL’s international comparison shows that the average cost of data centre construction per megawatt increased from USD 7.7 million to USD 10.7 million between 2020 and 2025. For 2026, JLL forecasts a further increase of approximately six per cent. The comparison covers shell-and-core construction as defined in the report; it excludes tenants’ technology fit-out, such as servers and networking equipment. The figures do not represent the cost of the building envelope alone or construction costs specifically in Finland.

When comparing building envelope options, construction clients should assess transport, lifting, installation, sealing and other remaining site works alongside the price of the elements. The comparison must also account for the longer site programme and workforce required by traditional on-site construction. This establishes a like-for-like basis for comparing offers. Schedule impacts should be assessed according to the activities each solution requires and their relationship with other works.

A Complete Building Envelope Connects Product Choices with Site Delivery

LapWall’s offering covers wall and roof elements, including for buildings with steel or concrete structural frames. LapWall can manufacture one million square metres of elements annually, providing capacity to supply elements for several dozen data centre developments, for example. LapWall aligns element manufacturing and deliveries with the agreed construction schedule. For the construction client, the key is confidence that the supplier has the manufacturing and installation resources to deliver the agreed scope.

Considering wall and roof elements as a complete package supports technical compatibility and delivery planning. LapWall’s specialists coordinate wall-to-roof interfaces, openings and service penetrations with the design team. For the construction client, this translates into a clear scope of supply, agreed responsibilities and a delivery schedule that supports progress on site.

The value of an industrially manufactured building envelope lies in the ability to manufacture a substantial proportion of the walls and roof off site while other construction activities proceed on site. LapWall’s expertise brings together technical solutions, industrial manufacturing and installation planning. This gives the construction client a basis for assessing the package’s cost and schedule, and how it supports the data centre owner’s target operational date.

A Faster Building Envelope Phase Accelerates Data Centre Commissioning

For data centre operators, speed is critical to business performance. Using prefabricated elements for the building envelope can shorten construction by months, enabling building services installation and other internal works to start earlier. A faster envelope phase therefore accelerates completion of the entire data centre and the start of operations.

A shorter envelope phase also reduces on-site labour, equipment hire periods and the need for temporary weather protection. Construction clients benefit from cost efficiency and more predictable progress. For the data centre operator, the central value is bringing the investment into productive use sooner.