C A S E S T U D Y

Henri Chauveau, Head of the Data Centre Business Line at Bouygues Bâtiment International( BBI)

Henri Chauveau, Head of the Data Centre Business Line at Bouygues Bâtiment International( BBI), on how hyperscaler demands have shifted over the past 18 months, the challenge of building dense, in-city facilities like its Goodman project in Sydney and why designing for obsolescence risk is now as important as the build itself.

Its international building division is a specialist in building complex projects around the world. Operating on five continents in nearly 30 countries, BBI has around 10,000 employees and a turnover of € 3.2 billion.

The organisation’ s core expertise lies in five key sectors: data centres, healthcare, airports, luxury hotels and logistics and light industries. BBI’ s versatility allows it to undertake projects across broader sectors too, including education, residential, workplaces, high-rise buildings, sports and leisure facilities.

The company is involved in every stage of the construction value chain to deliver optimal performance: from design to construction, retrofit and operation. It can also structure and bring financing for the projects it builds and provide real estate development services.

BBI has successfully delivered over 800 MW of data centre capacity across 90 facilities worldwide, with 90 % of its projects being for repeat clients. This is facilitated by on-time, on-budget delivery to the desired specification, backed by in-house expertise, robust supply chains and a no-compromise attitude to safety and ethical standards.

BBI’ s international network of data centre experts includes embedded local teams with extensive experience of local requirements and in-depth knowledge of the supply chain.

Its international experience and footprint mean it can bring global best practice and consistency of standards and approach to deliver turnkey data centres for clients operating anywhere in the world.

What changes has BBI seen in the demands from hyperscalers that you weren ' t seeing 18 months ago?

Over the past 18 months, we have seen a clear acceleration in both the scale and the pace of hyperscale projects. Data centres are becoming larger, more complex and expected to be delivered faster than ever before.

As a result, hyperscalers are no longer simply looking for a contractor. They now require a global, reliable construction partner capable of delivering their scaling ambitions. They need a partner that can deliver complex large-scale projects across different geographies while maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety and operational excellence.

At Bouygues Bâtiment International, we see this evolution as an opportunity to create value by combining our international footprint, proven delivery capabilities and collaborative approach to help our clients achieve their ambitious expansion plans with confidence.

Does BBI see urban data centres being important in meeting future compute demand?

AI and hyperscalers are driving demand for larger-scale projects and campuses with some developments outside urban areas. We are still seeing a lot of data centre projects being developed within or close to urban environments for reasons such as proximity to the primary source of demand and reduced latency, which are important aspects for cloud services and colocation, but also AI. It is also in these locations that there’ s a future market to renovate and upgrade the previous generation of data centres.

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