Fire Engineering Challenges in the UKI’s Rapidly Expanding Data Centre Sector

It is clear that the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI) have become major hubs for digital infrastructure in Europe. The growing demand for cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital storage continues to drive the development of large-scale data centres across the region. According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, data centres accounted for around 22% of the country’s total electricity consumption in 2024, highlighting both the scale and strategic importance of these facilities within the national energy infrastructure.

As demand continues to grow across the UKI, the design of data centres is becoming increasingly complex. Higher power densities, evolving energy storage technologies and the need for resilient and sustainable infrastructure are reshaping how these buildings are designed and delivered.

Within this context, fire engineering plays a critical role. Data centres are mission critical facilities, where even minor incidents can result in significant operational disruption and financial loss. Effective fire strategies must therefore go beyond prescriptive compliance, supporting not only life safety but also business continuity and long-term operational resilience.

Increasing Power Density and Heat Loads

One of the biggest changes we are seeing in modern data centres is the amount of power being concentrated into smaller spaces, thanks to the high-performance computing and AI work they’re doing. Server racks are becoming more robust, generating more heat and necessitating improved cooling systems. This raises fire safety considerations such as increased heat accelerates fires, while complex cooling systems create further challenges. Therefore, incorporating fire safety into building design from the beginning is essential.

Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage

Energy resilience is a fundamental requirement for data centres. Many modern facilities incorporate battery energy storage systems to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the event of grid failure. Lithium-ion battery technologies are increasingly favoured, due to their high energy density and efficiency. However, lithium-ion systems introduce unique fire safety challenges. Thermal runaway events can lead to rapid heat release, generate flammable gas and the potential for fire propagation between battery modules. Standards and guidance from organisations such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have increasingly addressed these risks. However, the rapid evolution of battery technology means fire engineering assessments must often adopt a performance-based approach to ensure appropriate mitigation measures are implemented.

Balancing Operational Flexibility with Compartmentation

Data centre operators typically require large open “white space” environments that allow for a flexible server layout and future expansion. While this operational flexibility is essential for long term usability, it can present challenges from a fire engineering perspective.

For example, traditional prescriptive approaches to compartmentation may conflict with the operational requirements of large open halls. Performance-based fire engineering solutions, including smoke modelling and fire dynamics analysis, are often required to demonstrate that appropriate tenability and smoke control conditions can be maintained during evacuation in the event of a fire scenario. Early collaboration between the fire engineer, architect and M&E consultant is crucial to successfully balance competing requirements.

Sustainability and Fire Protection

Sustainability has also become a major focus in the design of modern data centres. Developers and operators are increasingly under pressure to reduce energy consumption and improve overall environmental performance. These sustainability targets can influence fire protection strategies. Fire engineers must therefore work closely with design teams to ensure that sustainability initiatives do not compromise fire safety or resilience. In many cases. innovative fire engineering solutions can support both objectives by optimising system design and improving overall building efficiency.

The Importance of Early Fire Engineering Input

Given the scale and complexity of current data centres, early engagement with fire engineering specialists is becoming increasingly crucial.  Integrating fire strategy development during the initial concept and planning stages helps identify potential design challenges early on, reducing the need for costly redesign and facilitating smoother regulatory approvals. Advanced modelling techniques such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, structural fire engineering and evacuation modelling, enable fire engineers to evaluate performance-based solutions specifically tailored to data centres design. This approach not only ensures regulatory compliance but also bolsters the resilience and operational continuity essential for facility operators.

Supporting the Next Generation of Digital Infrastructure

As the UKI furthers development of its digital infrastructure, data centres will remain vital to the region’s economy. However, their design presents unique fire engineering challenges, necessitating a careful balance between fire safety, resilience and operational performance.

At Jensen Hughes, we recognise that these challenges extend beyond conventional building design. Our team works closely with developers, architects and multidisciplinary design teams to deliver robust, performance-based fire strategies that align with the operational demands of mission critical infrastructure.

By combining technical expertise, advanced modelling capabilities and early-stage collaboration, we help ensure that the next generation of digital infrastructure across the UKI is not only efficient and resilient, but fundamentally safe by design.