Engineering in the Middle East: innovation and opportunity in the data centre sector

The growth and pace in the Middle East’s infrastructure design and construction is almost unparalleled across the globe. At the heart of this is data centres, one of the region’s most rapidly growing and strategically vital sectors. The reason for this exponential growth can be attributed to a number of factors – historical economic growth coming from the oil sector undoubtedly comes into play which has resulted in investment in major urban development. But beyond that, there is the digital transformation agenda of countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Those working in mission critical areas such as building services engineering and environmental design consultancy chapmanbdsp have witnessed this massive increase in opportunities and demand first hand.

To give further context, the region has traditionally been dominated by hospitality and residential development but now the Middle East’s construction sector has seen a shift in priorities. As tourism and population growth rise, so does the need for comprehensive infrastructure, including schools, malls, and now, data centres. These projects are being developed at a remarkable pace, driven by a desire for economic diversification, increased global connectivity, and national ambitions to become digital hubs, with the move towards smart cities and ever advancing take up of artificial intelligence (AI) playing a part too – more of which later.

A case in point is the announcement of a 5-gigawatt data centre campus in Abu Dhabi, The sheer scale and ambition of such projects underscore the booming demand for data storage, management, and security in the region. Chapmandbdsp’s Middle East team have the knowledge and experience in situ, coupled with the expertise from the firm’s London HQ, to navigate the required speed to market. In terms of the programme, once land is secured, construction and operation tend to be completed in a highly time efficient manner to ensure a return on investment.

There are qualities to projects in the Middle East such as the relative "blank canvas" the region offers for new builds plus land acquisition tends to be straightforward, allowing for rapid development as previously mentioned. However, this benefit comes with challenges—most notably, the availability and transmission of sufficient power to support such energy-intensive facilities. Countries like the UAE are already adapting, with nuclear energy projects such as the Barakah power plant coming online to bolster the grid.

Despite its climate of high temperatures, the region is actually well positioned for data centre development. Air-cooled systems are typically used due to relative water scarcity, and the local engineering solutions, such as those provided by chapmanbdsp, are adapted to the heat. The UAE’s geographic location also provides a strategic advantage too, as it lies on major global IT cable routes, ensuring excellent digital connectivity.

In terms of sustainability, developers are conscious of the environmental impact. Although the extreme heat limits opportunities like heat reuse (common in cooler countries), there is a strong focus on passive design, efficient facades, and optimising building forms to reduce reliance on energy-intensive active systems. Part of chapmandbdsp’s approach here is to tailor solutions to local resources and climatic conditions.

Looking at the data centre sector in more detail, the main global hyperscalers providers are already established in the region and actively expanding their footprints through both direct infrastructure investment and partnerships with regional providers. There is also a surge in demand for colocation (colo) facilities. To support this rapid development, engineering firms operating in the Middle East such as chapmanbdsp leverage a strong mix of local expertise and global experience in order to deliver data centre facilities ranging from 3MW to over 350MW. Recent efforts include innovative liquid-cooled and hybrid solutions designed for clients seeking high-density, high-efficiency environments.

Turnkey solutions are often delivered through robust partner networks, covering everything from architectural design and structural engineering to ICT, threat analysis, and hydrology. This integrated approach ensures clients can access complete end-to-end solutions for mission critical infrastructure.

Sustainability and energy efficiency are key pillars of engineering design in the region with many data centres designed to meet or exceed LEED Gold or Platinum standards. Uptime Institute tier certification is also standard, offering assurance around reliability and resilience, particularly important for clients leasing space in third-party facilities.

Performance and efficiency are paramount. Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), a measure of how efficiently a data centre uses energy, is a major design consideration. Engineers optimise systems to ensure as much of the input power as possible goes toward processing, not cooling or peripheral functions. To achieve low PUE values, strategies include using high-efficiency equipment, precise airflow management, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling to simulate and optimise thermal performance.

A major factor shaping the data centre sector is the dramatic rise in AI and its growing computational demands. Power densities are skyrocketing, with cutting-edge equipment requiring upwards of 30 times the power of previous generations. This surge is pushing the limits of current engineering and infrastructure solutions, prompting firms to innovate in areas such as power delivery and thermal management.

In short, engineering in the Middle East’s data centre sector is both a demanding and exciting place to be, thanks to the sheer scale, pace, and ambition of the work, giving chapmanbdsp the opportunity to deliver innovative, future-ready infrastructure.