Tomorrow, the "Data-Centered Office": when gigawatts redraw the map of offices in the Paris region

Generative artificial intelligence is no longer content with disrupting our working methods: it is set to physically redefine the geography of our businesses. In Ile-de-France, the traditional real estate balance between prestigious addresses and cost per square meter is giving way to a new paradigm: immediate proximity to computing power. Welcome to the era of the "Data-Centered Office," where gigawatts are beginning to take precedence over square meters.

The end of Paris's reign?

For decades, Paris has exerted an irresistible pull on the service sector. However, the revolution in generative AI (and the data centers it needs to operate) could well break this monopolistic hold. AI-intensive companies face a major physical constraint: the need to reduce latency through edge computing. By “AI-intensive,” we mean organizations that use AI “vertically,” i.e., at the heart of their business processes, rather than AI used “horizontally,” i.e., in a diffuse and ad hoc manner, in everyday office applications. To function effectively, we believe that future offices will need to be backed by massive computing infrastructures. However, Paris, with its “old-world charm” and density, struggles to offer the necessary technical requirements.

This new situation will favor areas that have until now been considered peripheral. The departments of Essonne and Yvelines, as well as areas north and south of Paris, boosted by the availability of high-voltage power lines (RTE's 400kV power grid) and land, will become the new "winning areas." La Défense, much criticized for its overproduction of large-scale office buildings (high-rise buildings), could also come out on top in this competition, thanks to its network infrastructure and the conversion of its vacant office space as an opportunity for DCs.

Less space, more technology

While locations are changing, volume is shrinking. The conclusion is clear: overall demand for office space in the Paris region is in sustained decline, correlated with sluggish economic growth, poor job creation, and task automation. AI saves on human resources, as illustrated by Accenture's decision to lay off 19,000 employees deemed "AI incompatible." Less anecdotally, a 2025 study by the Stanford Digital Lab already notes a 13% decline in recruitment among 22-25 year olds in the most exposed professions.

The square footage of desirable office space will be radically different. We are seeing a massive shift in investment: in the United States, for the first time this year, spending on data center construction has exceeded that on office construction. In France, giants such as Hines, Prologis, and Icade are already reorienting their strategies toward these technological assets. In doing so, a hybrid space offering may emerge, similar to developments already seen on the West Coast.

The hybrid building: offices and servers under one roof

The future belongs to buildings capable of combining workspaces and data centers. The architectural firm HOK is working on "Digital Amenity" concepts in San Francisco, using Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) technology. This liquid cooling technology takes up three times, less space than conventional systems, finally making it possible to house offices and servers in the same space. Better still, the "waste heat" generated by processors can be reused to heat living spaces or urban rooftop crops.

New decision-making power

In this not-so-distant future scenario, the choice of future offices and tertiary workspaces will no longer be the sole responsibility of real estate departments, but will be driven by Chief Information Officer (CIOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs). The selection criteria will be primarily technical: abundant electrical capacity, proximity to computing hubs and rapid transport networks (SGP projects in the Paris region).

The financial equation will also change. While the overall cost of real estate projects will increase, the share of land and "tertiary" construction costs will become secondary to technological investments (CAPEX). For companies wishing to escape this formidable scissor effect, the challenge will be to offset these (additional) costs and (additional) investments by drastically optimizing standard office space.

Tomorrow, in a world of work enhanced by generative AI and powered by data centers, a prestigious address will matter less than the quality of the connection to the power grid and the processing speed of algorithms. We see this as an opportunity for the Paris metropolitan area, including the Île-de-France region, and a retrospective justification for the investments made to develop the transport network under the Grand Paris Express project.

The coexistence of a data center and tertiary and industrial spaces: the result of legal constraints

The development of hybrid buildings or real estate complexes combining data centers with tertiary or industrial activities may be more supported, or even necessary, given the restrictive legal environment surrounding the development of data centers.

Data centers are now subject to a growing set of environmental constraints due to their energy-intensive nature, which is profoundly changing the conditions for their development.

On the one hand, the scope of environmental reporting obligations (1) has expanded considerably in recent years, from general obligations imposed on large companies to an increasingly targeted system (2), with data centers now explicitly subject to it.

To this end, French law of April 30, 2025, which implements the European directive of September 13, 2023 on energy efficiency, expressly subjects data center operators to a new environmental reporting obligation. Starting at an installed power threshold of 500 kW or more, they will now be required to publish or transmit administrative, environmental, and energy information.

As a result, energy performance, carbon footprint, water management, and heat recovery waste heat are now subject to greater transparency, which increases regulatory and societal pressure on this type of infrastructure and de facto increases the risk of litigation weighing on the various administrative authorizations necessary for the development of data centers, particularly building permits.

On the other hand, the obligation to recover and use waste heat locally is now a key element of the legal framework, which could lead to a building permit being refused if there is no waste heat energy recovery system in place or if the waste heat recovery system is deemed insufficient

In this restrictive regulatory context, mixed use can be seen as a major strategic leverage

It enhances the acceptability of projects by integrating them into local economic development policies, particularly through job creation and the momentum generated by mixed use.

By diversifying uses and combining complementary uses, particularly through the integration of offices or by supplying heat to gyms, swimming pools, and other public facilities using waste heat recovered from data centers, data centers should be able to obtain greater support from local authorities and communities, while reducing the still significant risk of legal action by neighbors.

Towards mixed use between data centers and industrial activities: the result of the environmental SDRIF

The current dynamic is now opening the door to a broader concept of mixed use, beyond the combination of data centers and offices. Recent changes to the " schéma directeur de la région d’Île-de-France environnemental" (SDRIF-E) in force since June 13, 2025 reinforce this trend with the opening up of mixed use between data centers and industry.

This planning document encourages the transformation of aging economic activity zones into mixed-use spaces, integrating data centers with industrial or logistical functions.

The SDRIF-E requires that data centers be located primarly within existing economic activity sites, with urban expansion only permitted if there is no alternative in already urbanized areas.

However, because data centers fall into the urban planning category of "warehouses," their establishment in areas dedicated to industry remains limited: business parks of regional interest must be preserved for industry and its support functions, and strategic industrial development sectors can only host a data center if it has a direct functional link with industrial activities established.

Thus, while the SDRIF-E significantly restricts data centers' access to industrial land, it nevertheless opens up a prospect: that of mixed use between data centers and industry, which may prove even more beneficial, as most industrial players have set themselves decarbonization targets and may be interested in recovering waste heat from data centers.

Notes

1. Reporting is defined as the publication or transmission to public oversight bodies, by companies, of internal data reflecting their actions in environmental, social, and governance matters (ESG reporting).
2. Data centers were initially only indirectly affected by these requirements, notably through the NRE law, the Grenelle II law, the vigilance mechanism introduced in 2017, and the CSRD directive, which required companies to publish environmental information without specifically targeting data centers.