The University of Mannheim officially broke ground in March of 2025 on a €39.5 million ($42.5 million) data center in Germany. Designed by Wulf Architekten to accommodate the university’s IT department, the leading-edge facility will feature modern workspaces for up to 150 occupants. From a vibrant central atrium, a seating staircase with integrated meeting areas will connect all floors of the four-story structure to foster social exchange.
Cornell University is planning to expand Duffield Hall to create a vibrant home for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Ithaca, N.Y. Supported by a $100 million donation, the project will add 130,000 sf of new and renovated space. Upon completion, the 300,000-sf facility will feature an embedded, low-vibration research wing for quantum computing on a built-out basement level, complemented by three stories above grade.
Roche announced the launch of the Roche Genentech Innovation Center in March of 2025 on Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus in Allston. With an initial lease of 30,000 sf of lab space in the first phase of construction, Roche intends to expand their R&D presence to eventually accommodate 500 employees. The initiative will bring together cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism experts with data science and AI specialists to accelerate innovation in drug discovery and development.
The 350,000-sf Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University (BU) brings 3,000 students, faculty, and staff together daily inside a LEED platinum-certified 19-story structure that sits at the heart of the university’s main campus. By replacing most of the building’s Portland cement with other supplementary cementitious materials, installing triple-glazed windows and fins to reduce the solar load, and heating and cooling the building with geothermal boreholes paired with active chilled beams, the project team created one of the largest sustainable and operationally fossil-fuel-free buildings in Boston.
Rice University opened the Rice Nexus in February of 2025 in Houston's Midtown neighborhood. Spanning 10,000 sf across two floors, the university’s flagship innovation hub is based in the Ion building to drive entrepreneurship and commercialization in association with industry partners. Tramonte Design Studio's vision for the Rice Nexus created labs for advanced tech development and free office space for early-stage startups, as well as showcasing faculty and student inventions.
Denison University broke ground in February of 2025 on the Center for Data Reasoning & Visualization in Granville, Ohio. Designed by The Collaborative, the $35 million project will rejuvenate the 21,250-sf Doane Hall and create a 17,700-sf addition. This dynamic new home for the departments of computer science and data analytics will position Denison to be the first liberal arts college with a state-of-the-art campus hub devoted to integrating data across the curriculum.
Stanford University opened its new 167,000-gsf Computing and Data Science building in January of 2025 in Palo Alto, Calif. Designed by LMN Architects to drive interdisciplinary research and innovation, the facility houses the Stanford Data Science and Impact Labs initiatives, as well as undergraduate programs in computer science and symbolic systems.
Johns Hopkins University is planning to construct a 476,572-sf facility for the Data Science and AI Institute (DSAI) on the Homewood Campus in Baltimore. Designed by ZGF, this global hub for research and discovery will bring together experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and translation, applied mathematics, and computer science and engineering.
Virginia Tech opened the first building on its Innovation Campus in Alexandria in January of 2025. SmithGroup designed the 300,000-gsf facility to provide leading-edge environments for academic and research programs in computer science and engineering, as well as space for the Pamplin College of Business. Featuring specialized laboratories, a drone testing cage, and a two-story maker space, the 11-story development houses 14 classrooms, wellness venues for students and faculty, and the 3,000-sf Boeing Auditorium.
The University of Alabama will begin construction in early 2025 on a new High Performance Computing and Data Center (HPC) to serve academic needs, strategic partners, and the Office of Research and Economic Development. Designed by Davis Architects, the 40,000-gsf structure will house the fastest supercomputer in Alabama, a petascale system capable of performing quadrillions of calculations per second.
The past few decades have brought myriad technological changes to our daily lives, and experts predict the pace of change will only increase—especially in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Much of the talk surrounding AI focuses on automating repetitive processes and analyzing data, which require additional computational power but not necessarily structural modifications. But emerging technologies, including AI and robotics, may require universities and companies to rethink their approach to designing and planning buildings and labs.
The University of Chicago is planning to construct a world-class center for science and engineering on the Hyde Park campus. The 398,160-gsf research and teaching building will house the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, as well as adding capacity for the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE). Created in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the CQE Project promises to establish Chicago as a nexus for quantum innovation and has been awarded $175 million in state funding.
The University of Waterloo is constructing the CAD110 million Mathematics 4 (M4) to accommodate growing programs in computer science, statistics, and related STEM disciplines. The 120,000-sf building will position the institution to harness its expertise in technology to revolutionize health care, address the climate crisis, improve cybersecurity, and create a more equitable society. M4 will develop the data-fluent, entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow with spaces that enable experiential learning and discovery.
Meta will construct an advanced data center in Louisiana to drive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI). Representing an investment of over $10 billion, the custom-designed complex in Richland Parish will encompass approximately 4 million sf. The company is also spending $200 million to improve local infrastructure, offering substantial community benefits and catalyzing economic growth.
Mount Sinai Health System opened the $100 million Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health in November of 2024 in New York. Designed by HOK, the project involved the transformation of a former nursing residence into a 65,000-sf research hub for computational discovery. The 12-story structure will initially house approximately 40 principal investigators, alongside 250 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, computer scientists, and staff.
