Architecture firm SOM has released designs for a 20-storey data centre at 934 Central Street in downtown Kansas City, USA — a 384-foot tower that stacks server floors, power infrastructure, cooling systems and public amenities into one vertical building (Dezeen).

The developer is Miami-based Revitalization Unlimited, which first proposed the project in June 2026 (KMBC). The site — a 0.23-acre parcel currently occupied by the Western Newspaper Union Building — would see that historic structure replaced by the new tower, a detail that has already drawn scrutiny from local preservation voices (KCUR).

In total, the building is planned at 140,880 square feet of space (KMBC). Of that, 4,700 square feet (436 square metres) at ground level is earmarked for shops, including a coffee shop — a deliberate gesture toward street life in a building type normally sealed off from the public (Dezeen).

What sets the design apart is its engineering. A diagram supplied by SOM states the data centre's power system is "100 per cent independent from the grid," with on-site generation reportedly from natural gas fuel cells. Water is internally cycled through equipment on the upper floors, with evaporative cooling elements positioned at the bulkhead — the structure on the roof that houses mechanical systems. Put simply: the building is designed to generate its own electricity, recycle its own cooling water, and keep running even if the surrounding grid goes dark.

Visually, the tower leans into its Midwestern context. The facade is earth-coloured masonry with large panes of glass, and the building's structural core sits on the exterior rather than buried inside — a choice that frees up interior floor plates for server racks and equipment (Dezeen).

Data centres — the physical buildings that house the servers behind cloud computing, streaming and AI services — have historically been low, warehouse-like structures built on cheap land outside city centres. Squeezing one into a 20-storey downtown tower on less than a quarter-acre of land is an unusual answer to two pressures at once: the explosive demand for computing capacity and the scarcity of urban land in growing metropolitan areas.

The project still faces the practical and political hurdles that come with demolishing a historic building in a downtown core. KCUR reported in late July that the replacement of the Western Newspaper Union Building is already a point of contention. Whether the tower proceeds as designed, and on what timeline, will depend on Kansas City's planning approvals.

The designs are now public. The conversation about what gets built — and what gets torn down to make room — is just beginning.