Event Insights: Building the Future - What It Takes to Deliver Modern Data Centers
July 17, 2025, Bala Cynwyd, PA
On July 17th at the Residence Inn at Penncoyd Landing in Bala Cynwyd, PA, industry leaders gathered for a candid conversation on the development, design, and construction of modern data centers during a panel hosted by 7x24 Exchange Greater Philadelphia. The Lunch & Learn panel, moderated by Lauren Barbir, HDR, brought together voices from across the project lifecycle:
Bill Rearden, P.E., Principal, Bohler
Neil Raymond, Market Leader, Data Centers, Leading Edge Design Group
Sarah Steele, Preconstruction Manager, Hensel Phelps
Together, they unpacked the challenges, innovations, and opportunities shaping the next generation of mission-critical infrastructure.
Flexibility First: Designing for the Unknown
Data centers today are anything but static. From site selection to master planning, flexibility has become the cornerstone of every modern development. As Bill Rearden noted, developers must design for a range of possibilities—different building types, substation configurations, and end-user needs. It’s not just about size anymore; it’s about scalability and adaptability.
A New Era of Density—and Cooling
Neil Raymond emphasized the dramatic shifts happening in real time: “The past 24 months have seen more change than the last two decades combined.”
Design teams are now supporting 150 kW per rack, a tenfold increase from legacy designs. This spike has accelerated the adoption of liquid cooling and direct-to-chip systems. It's a shift that’s transforming not only the MEP engineering landscape but the way teams approach filtration, controls, and failure response windows.
Speed is King
Sarah Steele brought the construction perspective—and one message rang clear: schedule is driving everything. Owners want to move fast, and general contractors are stepping in earlier than ever. Design-build models, early site permits, and prefabricated solutions are becoming essential tools to meet aggressive go-live dates.
Sarah’s team, currently working on a first-of-its-kind prototype data center, is managing both design and site work in parallel. “It’s about raising your hand early and often,” she noted. “Everything ties back to schedule.”
New Pressures: Power, Water, and Permits
From power availability to water consumption and discharge permitting, infrastructure constraints are shaping what’s possible—and what’s not. Panelists discussed how due diligence and early utility coordination can make or break a site. Sometimes, the only solution is to bring power generation or water treatment on-site—if the regulations and timelines allow it.
Security by Design
While technology is changing, so too are end-user expectations. Some clients require multi-tiered access restrictions or segregated white space zones. Others want minimal onsite personnel at all. Across the board, the role of low-voltage design and security planning is becoming more tightly integrated into early project phases.
The Common Thread: Teamwork & Trust
As complex as data centers have become, one theme was universal across the panel: collaboration is everything. Whether it’s coordinating long-lead equipment, navigating permitting with local authorities, or managing concurrent workstreams, success comes down to the strength of the team.
In closing, each panelist shared a final lesson learned:
Neil Raymond: “Never assume you know everything—this industry is changing daily.”
Bill Rearden: “Embrace the chaos. You need the right team to deliver.”
Sarah Steele: “Early design coordination sets the entire project up for success.”
Lauren Barbir: “Sometimes 80% complete is better than 100% late—speed matters.”
Final Thoughts
As demand continues to surge for high-density, high-performance data centers, one thing is clear: building the future requires flexibility, speed, and a whole lot of collaboration. The insights from this panel made it clear—modern data centers are complex, dynamic ecosystems. And delivering them successfully means bringing every discipline to the table early and often.
About 7x24 Exchange Greater Philadelphia:
The 7x24 Exchange is the leading knowledge exchange for those who design, build, use and maintain mission-critical enterprise information infrastructures. The goal of the 7x24 Exchange is to improve end-to-end reliability by promoting dialogue among these groups. The Delaware Valley Chapter serves IT and facilities professionals in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware markets, by providing a local forum for information exchange.