# Data Center Design Market > Data Center Design Market: USD 9.46 billion in 2026, USD 19.75 billion by 2035, 9.28% CAGR from 2025 as AI campuses need new power and cooling designs. Publisher: DC Market Insights Author: Amit Jain, DC Market Insights Published: 2026-10-19 Last updated: 2026-10-19 Next review: Apr 2027 Page: https://www.dcmarketinsights.com/report/data-center-design-market ## Key takeaways - Repeat Designs Cut the Fee per Megawatt Share **Frequently Asked Questions** **What is the size of the Data Center Design Market in 2026?** USD 9.46 billion in 2026, up 16.4% from USD 8.13 billion in 2025, according to DC Market Insights estimates. The market is projected to reach USD 19.75 billion by 2035, a CAGR of 9.28% from 2025. **How fast is the Data Center Design Market growing?** 9.28% a year from 2025 to 2035, after 19.69% a year from 2020 to 2025, because completions double again while the design fee rate eases from 3.80% to 3.50% of facility cost. **What does data center design include?** USD 8.13 billion of 2025 fees cover architecture and civil-structural design, MEP engineering, digital twin and CFD simulation, and site selection, feasibility and owner's engineering. Construction, commissioning and in-house owner design are excluded. **How much does data center design cost per MW?** About USD 429,000 per MW of IT capacity in 2025, or 3.80% of a USD 11.30 million facility cost per MW (DC Market Insights estimate). First-of-a-kind AI campuses reach about USD 565,000 per MW. **Which service type leads the Data Center Design Market?** 54.7% of 2025 value, or USD 4.45 billion, goes to MEP engineering. Digital twin, CFD and simulation services grow fastest, at 14.93% a year to USD 2.31 billion by 2035. **Which region leads the Data Center Design Market?** 45.0% of 2025 value, or USD 3.66 billion, is spent in North America. Middle East and Africa grows fastest at 14.72% a year, and Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing country in the top 12. **Who are the leading data center design firms?** About 6% of 2025 value is held by Jacobs (DC Market Insights assessment). AECOM, Stantec, WSP Global and Arcadis follow; the top five hold about 20%, and hundreds of regional engineering firms share the rest. **How does a reference design change data center design fees?** A hyperscale repeat of an owner reference design costs about 2.8% of facility cost, against 5.0% for a first-of-a-kind AI campus (DC Market Insights). NVIDIA released its DSX AI factory reference design in March 2026. **How far ahead of construction is data center design done?** About one year for detailed design and two years for site selection in the DC Market Insights model, so 2025 design fees of USD 6.01 billion track the 14.0 GW of IT capacity due for completion in 2026. **Why do Data Center Design Market estimates differ?** USD 9.46 billion in 2026 is the DC Market Insights figure for design fees paid to outside firms only. Estimates that add design-build construction value, commissioning, stand-alone software or in-house design teams are larger. ## Dataset | Series | Value | Unit | | --- | --- | --- | | Market size 2025 | 8,130 | USD million | | Revenue CAGR | 9.28 | % | | Market size 2035 | 19,750 | USD million | ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the size of the Data Center Design Market in 2026? USD 9.46 billion in 2026, up 16.4% from USD 8.13 billion in 2025, according to DC Market Insights estimates. The market is projected to reach USD 19.75 billion by 2035, a CAGR of 9.28% from 2025. ### How fast is the Data Center Design Market growing? 9.28% a year from 2025 to 2035, after 19.69% a year from 2020 to 2025, because completions double again while the design fee rate eases from 3.80% to 3.50% of facility cost. ### What does data center design include? USD 8.13 billion of 2025 fees cover architecture and civil-structural design, MEP engineering, digital twin and CFD simulation, and site selection, feasibility and owner's engineering. Construction, commissioning and in-house owner design are excluded. ### How much does data center design cost per MW? About USD 429,000 per MW of IT capacity in 2025, or 3.80% of a USD 11.30 million facility cost per MW (DC Market Insights estimate). First-of-a-kind AI campuses reach about USD 565,000 per MW. ### Which service type leads the Data Center Design Market? 54.7% of 2025 value, or USD 4.45 billion, goes to MEP engineering. Digital twin, CFD and simulation services grow fastest, at 14.93% a year to USD 2.31 billion by 2035. ### Which region leads the Data Center Design Market? 45.0% of 2025 value, or USD 3.66 billion, is spent in North America. Middle East and Africa grows fastest at 14.72% a year, and Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing country in the top 12. ### Who are the leading data center design firms? About 6% of 2025 value is held by Jacobs (DC Market Insights assessment). AECOM, Stantec, WSP Global and Arcadis follow; the top five hold about 20%, and hundreds of regional engineering firms share the rest. ### How does a reference design change data center design fees? A hyperscale repeat of an owner reference design costs about 2.8% of facility cost, against 5.0% for a first-of-a-kind AI campus (DC Market Insights). NVIDIA released its DSX AI factory reference design in March 2026. ### How far ahead of construction is data center design done? About one year for detailed design and two years for site selection in the DC Market Insights model, so 2025 design fees of USD 6.01 billion track the 14.0 GW of IT capacity due for completion in 2026. ### Why do Data Center Design Market estimates differ? USD 9.46 billion in 2026 is the DC Market Insights figure for design fees paid to outside firms only. Estimates that add design-build construction value, commissioning, stand-alone software or in-house design teams are larger. ## How to cite Data Center Market Research & Consulting | DC Market Insights, "Data Center Design Market", updated 2026-10-19, https://www.dcmarketinsights.com/report/data-center-design-market