Who makes raised floor for AI data centers

Raised access flooring is a grid of removable panels on pedestals, creating a plenum under the data hall. It was near-universal in the air-cooled era because that plenum was how cold air got to the racks — pressurised underfloor, released through perforated tiles in front of the equipment — and it doubled as the route for power and data cable. AI density has undercut the airflow argument. Delivering the air a dense rack needs through floor tiles stopped being practical some time ago, and liquid-cooled deployments do not need bulk cold air at the rack at all. Many new halls are being built slab-on-grade with overhead power and cable containment instead, which is cheaper, structurally simpler, and avoids a floor with a load rating that heavy cabinets test. Where raised floor persists it is usually for a reason other than air: cable routing preference, retrofit into a building that already has it, or a hybrid hall still cooling some equipment with air. What to look for is the load rating relative to the racks actually planned — liquid-cooled cabinets are far heavier than the ones the floor standards assumed — and whether the design is genuinely underfloor-air or is using the plenum only for cable, since those justify very different specifications. Only two suppliers carry this part in the catalog, which reflects a niche in decline rather than a concentrated market.