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By Richard Battey, Director at Currie & Brown

The data centre industry is surging, driven by a world that is increasingly digital-first. But in Europe’s most developed data centre hubs—Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin—the strain is beginning to show. Space is scarce, power grids are stretched thin, and regulators are tightening their grip.

Developers, seeking new opportunities, are looking further afield to cities like Milan, Berlin, Warsaw, and Madrid. Developing European data centre markets offer the allure of lower costs, government incentives, and access to renewable energy in abundance. Yet they also present hurdles: unfamiliar legal frameworks, fragmented supply chains, and underdeveloped infrastructure. For developers eyeing these markets, the challenges are as real as the opportunities.

This is where adaptive reuse could make a significant impact.

The Case for Reinvention

Adaptive reuse—the process of repurposing existing buildings for new uses—is not a new concept. We’ve seen it in the urban revitalisation of former factories and warehouses into creative spaces or luxury flats. But its potential for data centres, particularly in developing markets, is only just coming into focus.

The logic is simple: in regions where land acquisition and new builds are costly or complicated, why not retrofit what’s already there? Warehouses, industrial sites, and vacant commercial properties often have the structural integrity, space and available power needed to house data centre infrastructure.

Take Milan, for example, a city with a proud industrial past. Its vacant factories, a reminder of its manufacturing heyday, are well-placed to serve as edge computing hubs. Warsaw’s underutilised Soviet-era buildings offer a similar opportunity, while Madrid’s dormant logistics centres sit at the crossroads of vital connectivity routes.

A Sustainable Edge

Beyond practicalities, adaptive reuse fits snugly into the broader narrative of sustainability—an issue that increasingly defines business decisions across industries. Data centres are notoriously energy-intensive, and their construction leaves a heavy carbon footprint.

Repurposing existing structures can cut embodied carbon emissions by as much as 75%, according to industry estimates. This is a significant draw for governments in developing markets keen to attract foreign investment while maintaining their environmental credentials.

Sustainability isn’t just about carbon savings. Data centres can harness waste heat recapture, directing excess heat to nearby homes, schools, or businesses. This is especially advantageous in cooler climates, such as Milan, Warsaw or Zurich.

The approach works best when the data centre is close to the buildings it will heat. Retrofitted buildings are ideal candidates for this. This way, what was once an operational by-product becomes a valuable community asset.

For example, in Norway, a data centre heats thousands of homes, while another in Japan uses waste heat to raise eels and grow mushrooms.¹

Challenges Ahead

Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. Adaptive reuse projects face their own complexities, particularly in Europe’s developing markets where regulatory landscapes for data centres can be complicated. Preserving architectural heritage while meeting modern data centre demands—like cooling systems and backup power—requires careful planning and negotiation with local authorities.

Yet for developers, these challenges are not insurmountable. They represent a cost worth bearing for the opportunity to enter high-growth markets with lower upfront investment and shorter lead times.

Reframing Data Centre Growth

Adaptive reuse offers more than just a practical solution for developers—it’s an opportunity to reframe data centres in the public consciousness. No longer the sterile “big boxes” on the outskirts of towns, repurposed facilities can become part of the urban fabric, contributing to the revitalisation of cities while meeting the demands of a digital age.

As developing data centre markets like Milan, Warsaw, and Madrid seek to establish themselves as major digital hubs, developers have a chance to lead the way with innovative, sustainable solutions. Adaptive reuse might just be the key to unlocking this potential.

For an industry built on the promise of transformation, repurposing the past to build the future seems a fitting next step.

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