{
 "id": "9.03",
 "slug": "architecture-engineering-and-mep-design",
 "url": "/parts/building-shell-site-and-construction/architecture-engineering-and-mep-design",
 "name": "Architecture, engineering & MEP design",
 "qualifiers": null,
 "layer": {
  "id": 9,
  "name": "Building shell, site & construction"
 },
 "parent_id": null,
 "children": [],
 "summary": "Architecture and engineering firms that design a data center's building envelope and its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems before construction begins.",
 "description_md": "This is the design layer that sits between the developer/tenant (9.01, 9.02) and the general contractors (9.04) who build to the design. Architecture covers the shell and site layout; MEP engineering specifies the power distribution, cooling, and plumbing systems that Layers 5 through 8 of this taxonomy physically supply, translating a target IT load and density into drawings a contractor can build from and equipment vendors can quote against.\nAI campuses have compressed design timelines even as the systems being designed have gotten more complex — liquid cooling loops, higher-voltage electrical distribution, and larger single-site power capacities all require MEP engineering that a decade of enterprise-colocation templates didn't anticipate. Firms that have built repeatable, pre-engineered designs for hyperscale and AI-campus MEP can turn projects faster than those still customizing each site from scratch, which is the main differentiator investors watching this space should track — that and the engineering labor capacity to staff a larger pipeline of concurrent projects at all.",
 "ai_delta": "AI campuses require MEP designs for higher-voltage electrical distribution and liquid cooling loops that a decade of enterprise-colocation templates didn't anticipate.",
 "bottleneck_status": null,
 "scale_tiers": [
  "enterprise",
  "hyperscale_building",
  "ai_campus",
  "gw_class"
 ],
 "density_modes": [
  "any"
 ],
 "scale_notes": "Engaged on essentially every purpose-built data center above the smallest edge deployments; the scope of work (and the premium commanded by firms with AI-campus experience) grows with scale and with liquid-cooling complexity.",
 "flow": [
  "shell"
 ],
 "companies": [
  {
   "company_id": "aecom",
   "name": "AECOM",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "ACM",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "atkinsrealis",
   "name": "AtkinsRéalis",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "ATRL.TO",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "fluor",
   "name": "Fluor",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "FLR",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "jacobs",
   "name": "Jacobs",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "J",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "stantec",
   "name": "Stantec",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "STN",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "sweco",
   "name": "Sweco",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "SWEC-B.ST",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "tetra-tech",
   "name": "Tetra Tech",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "TTEK",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "wsp",
   "name": "WSP",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "public",
   "ticker": "WSP.TO",
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "arup",
   "name": "Arup",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "bechtel",
   "name": "Bechtel",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "black-and-veatch",
   "name": "Black & Veatch",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "burns-mcdonnell",
   "name": "Burns & McDonnell",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "buro-happold",
   "name": "Buro Happold",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "corgan",
   "name": "Corgan",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "cundall",
   "name": "Cundall",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "deerns",
   "name": "Deerns",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "exyte",
   "name": "Exyte",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "gensler",
   "name": "Gensler",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "hdr",
   "name": "HDR",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "kw-mission-critical",
   "name": "kW Mission Critical",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "m-moser",
   "name": "M Moser",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "mott-macdonald",
   "name": "Mott MacDonald",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "nv5",
   "name": "NV5",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "unknown",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": "Acuren",
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "page",
   "name": "Page",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "ramboll",
   "name": "Ramboll",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "salas-o-brien",
   "name": "Salas O'Brien",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "sargent-lundy",
   "name": "Sargent & Lundy",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "sheehan-nagle-hartray",
   "name": "Sheehan Nagle Hartray",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "syska-hennessy",
   "name": "Syska Hennessy",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  },
  {
   "company_id": "ware-malcomb",
   "name": "Ware Malcomb",
   "role": "designer",
   "confidence": "inferred",
   "ownership_type": "private",
   "ticker": null,
   "product_note": null,
   "note": null,
   "source_url": null
  }
 ]
}