Driving the Data Center Boom in Central Texas

The acceleration of digital transformation in virtually every market and advancements in AI are two key trends driving demand for new data center space in the U.S. today. Owners and developers are responding, evidenced by the estimated 3,871 MW of data center projects under construction in the first half of 2024 alone—a 69.2% increase from a year ago, according to CBRE Group, Inc.

Perhaps there is no demand more pronounced than in Central Texas, where DPR is playing a pivotal role helping data center owners and developers expand their footprint in the Lone Star State.

That effort includes a major new 350,000-sq.-ft., 40 MW mission critical data center facility underway in San Antonio, which is slated for a phased turnover beginning in May 2025. To effectively on the owner’s goals for speed, efficiency, quality and safety, the team is leveraging its extensive advanced tech expertise, key strategic partnerships, industry-leading prefabrication capabilities, and a collaborative, solution-oriented mindset.

“We have a high-performing team, and we really try to embrace the DPR culture as a whole with our trade partners and stakeholders,” commented DPR’s Trevor Lundgren.

DPR worked closely with strategic partners Evergreen Innovation Group (EIG), an electrical contracting firm, and GPLA, structural engineers, to innovate and execute game-changing prefabricated solutions that have increased efficiency and shaved time and cost off the project. Additionally, using DPR self-perform crews for major scopes of work has helped elevate quality, address workforce issues, and promote a safety-oriented culture on the jobsite.

In early and ongoing collaboration with EIG and GPLA, the team demonstrated the substantial cost and schedule advantages of prefabricating entire electrical rooms on skids offsite. Prefabricating 25 “plug-and-play” rooms would ultimately provide a combined savings of just under 15,000 onsite electrical worker hours—totaling about $1.8 million in cost savings.

“Quality is a big piece of that too,” Lundgren added. “By getting these critical components prefabricated and assembled offsite, it allows us to start some of our preliminary testing sooner and address any issues quicker than if we waited until all the work was done in the field to start that testing.”

Each of the GPLA-engineered structural skids is preinstalled with switchgear, two primary electrical panels, the UPS and UPS battery cabinet, totaling 2 MW per skid. These modular systems are fabricated concurrently at EIG facilities in Austin, TX, and Phoenix, AZ, facilitating a more predictable and nimble supply process than if they were all sourced from a single offsite facility.

Early collaboration and integrated design and detailing ensured the skid structure was engineered and designed holistically from the start.

“From our perspective the success of the project is due to the close coordination among EIG, GPLA and DPR,” commented GPLA’s Jordan Henke. “We had a constant feedback loop during design, so if a nut or bolt was out of place, we could adjust it before we duplicated it 25 times.”

EIG’s Rudy Trujillo added, “The complexity and stakes were high in terms of arranging each little piece of steel, so the close coordination during system design and other areas allowed us to be successful. GPLA’s steel detailing work and shop drawings allowed us to focus 100% on electrical work, which helped us best maximize our resources.”

This approach minimized delays due to redesign or system conflicts in the field, building greater predictability into the installation schedule and reducing complexity. In addition to the electrical skid prefabrication, the project is also employing prefabrication on telecom and media voltage duct banks, further boosting safety, schedule and quality.

Representing this owner’s first foray into widespread use of prefabrication on a data center project, the San Antonio facility is designed as a prototype for future buildings on this five-building campus. In addition to prefabrication, the DPR led team has implemented a host of other solutions. Among them: turnkey procurement strategies for owner-supplied equipment, a centralized equipment rental solution, a cost saving site fill and grading solution, and much more.