Why Industrial Developments Must Be Good Community Neighbors

As data centers and heavy industrial facilities move away from unpopulated areas and closer to communities, this poses new challenges, from NIMBYism to public concerns about noise, aesthetics, and environmental impact. For these facilities to become good neighbors and stewards of the populations they serve, it’s imperative that architects and designers have a seat at the table when heavy industrial and critical facilities’ infrastructure systems are planned to help facilitate ethical decision making.

In years past, heavy industrial and critical facilities buildings were in unpopulated areas on the edge or outside of concentrated developments, which resulted in structures that served as functional enclosures lacking environmental context. As technology has developed and evolved, both project types migrated to highly connected locations with access to large amounts of power.

Additionally, this transition was fueled by the inability to utilize dilution as a solution to pollution issues. Once byproducts could be run through systems to manage waste streams in an active way, facilities inched closer to the urban core.

However, due to the variability of land prices based on the socioeconomic status of a site’s surrounding population, developers of these project types often face NIMBYism from community members or criticism for controlling areas that are traditionally underserved.

To properly address these challenges, industrial clients can bring in architects and designers to help articulate their value stream and guide them through locating, designing, and building their projects. In doing this, we can keep the “human” component in the design process and create projects that are both beneficial to those working within the buildings and living nearby.

Crafting Clear Communication in Heavy Industrial

Heavy industrial refers to businesses that involve large-scale and complex manufacturing processes, typically consisting of large machinery and heavy equipment. These industries are defined by their production of tangible goods on a large scale, often involving raw materials and basic components.

In general, many of the companies in this industry have not previously needed to properly communicate the origin of their brand or their type of work. This lack of transparency with the public oftentimes formed a sense of unfamiliarity, fueling NIMBYism.

To create a better line of communication with local stakeholders, architects and designers can help clients map their value stream. In this process, there are opportunities to craft authentic narratives that can be leveraged and catered to community members, current and potential employees, investors, and more.

This expert storytelling is the foundation for a building designed for and around the people it serves. If executed correctly, the client’s return on investment is seen in an optimized employee experience, improved employee engagement, and reduced pushback with a trend toward acceptance.

Overcoming NIMBYism in Critical Facilities

Critical facilities, as defined by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), are buildings and infrastructure vital to the health and welfare of the population, especially crucial after disastrous events. These examples include shelters, police and fire stations, hospitals, and in our opinion, data centers as supportive IT for these functions.

Overall, data centers and the services they provide are ubiquitous, but people are sometimes unaware of their functions. As a result, neighbors may not understand the required architecture for these big-box-scale developments.

Architects and designers can help data center clients overcome this by assisting them in becoming good stewards of the populations they serve. We have a responsibility and obligation when it comes to guiding our clients to locate, design, and build their projects.

By engaging a design team at the onset of a project, we can:

• Make environmentally responsible material selections.
• Celebrate building entry points.
• Mitigate the ‘out of scale’ proportions and design something more human-centric.
• Provide interesting, well-landscaped views to, or through, the site.

Considering that most people will only drive by and not enter a facility, curating a unique user experience is also important to the overall reception of the project. Tackling these objectives with a community-first mindset can alleviate some elements of NIMBYism, and instead provide a level of transparency and pride.

Future Opportunities

As heavy industrial and critical facilities continue to be good neighbors, there are also opportunities to evaluate how we can generate synergies between established industries within the locations they integrate.

For example, there are possibilities to utilize waste heat from data centers for the operations of an adjacent indoor farm. This strategic partnership would provide locally grown items to members of the community and drive the sustainability of the data center.

Evaluating these opportunities is common in the design world and can result in a significant impact on the future of the communities in which we live. Ultimately, creative thinking and effective partnerships will help both our clients and the areas they serve be successful.