There’s a reason data centers don’t look like castles, the Shire, or a spa

FastCompany: As artificial intelligence use skyrockets, tech companies are racing to build data centers, the infrastructure needed to run and teach their models. There are roughly 4,000 data centers around the U.S., with reports suggesting 3,000 more are coming online soon. Just one problem: No one seems to want a data center in their backyard. Communities oppose them because they consume massive amounts of energy and water and pollute the environment . Another concern? Data centers are major eyesores. These complexes can span hundreds of acres and usually feature uninspiring, windowless concrete facades.

Built quickly, efficiently, and as inexpensively as possible, their design is determined by practicality, not aesthetics. As more and more continue to pop up, fed-up observers of the trend are turning to social media to propose fantastical AI-generated renders of what these structures could look like. Could and should a data center resemble the Shire ? An Alpine spa ? A castle ? These are just a few of the ideas circulating.

Genuinely if datacenters looked like this, the nimby angst around them would drop by half https://t.co/ETEKBdeLGZ pic.twitter.com/cKrEc2yjaJ — Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) May 5, 2026 Venture capitalist Joshua Kushner sparked the conversation with a post saying , “make data centers aesthetically beautiful,” though he didn’t offer any specific visual suggestions. One X user who created an AI rendering of a data center tucked into a hillside, just like the hobbit houses in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, posted : “Genuinely if datacenters looked like this, the nimby angst around them would drop by half.” The ideas are far out.

One armchair designer (who also happens to be an editor at The Economist) shared a data center dressed to look like a medieval stone castle, writing, “Many people do not seem to want data centres built near them, despite the fact that they don’t cause that much traffic and often generate a lot of local tax revenue.

I suspect it’s partly because they’re ugly!” He also posted a render that imagines a data center done up to look like the Parthenon, captioning the image: “This is not beyond our abilities.” This is not beyond our abilities pic.twitter.com/uStrdL6r3P — Mike Bird (@Birdyword) April 30, 2026 While those proposals might be more joke than reality, others are finding a lesson in the discussion about data center aesthetics. “To me, the opportunity here is not greco-or-techno-futurism,” designer Joshua Puckett said on X .

“It’s to create a regionally inspired form that settles into the land rather than stand in defiance of it.” He also shared renders of a hypothetical data center in three different cities: Sydney; Denver; and Columbia Basin, Washington. The design features an undulating, serpentine roof that blends into its surroundings. To me, the opportunity here is not greco-or-techno-futurism. It’s to create a regionally inspired form that settles into the land rather than stand in defiance of it. Conceptual renderings for Sydney, Denver, and Columbia Basin as examples. Landmarks, not eyesores.

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The article addresses a significant shift in the design approach for data centers, which could influence brand perception in the tech industry, making it relevant and impactful for brand strategy professionals.