Asset-Class Studios
Data Centres & Digital Infrastructure Studio
A studio that applies the real-estate toolkit to data centres and digital infrastructure — why they are real estate plus infrastructure, what drives their demand and location, how deals and leases are structured, and how to appraise the capex-intensive investment case.
The promise
Apply the real-estate toolkit to data centres - the power position that decides everything, demand, deal structures, sustainability constraints and the exit.
By the end you can
- Grade a grid connection position rather than accept an indicative date
- Separate announced, contracted and absorbed demand
- Read the lease clauses that carry the real risk
- Quantify the PUE-WUE trade-off and price planning risk
- Build an investment case with a credible buyer at exit
Curriculum
The Data Centre Asset
Real estate plus power, cooling and connectivity; hyperscale vs colocation vs edge; why power (MW), not floor area, is the unit of value.
Demand & Location
Cloud and AI demand drivers; power availability, cost and sustainability; latency, land, fibre and the Gulf/Egypt opportunity.
The Deal & Lease
Build-to-suit, powered shell and turnkey structures; triple-net leases and hyperscaler covenants; WAULT and income security.
Feasibility, Risk & Value
Capex intensity and the power-cost pass-through; obsolescence and technology risk; building the investment case.
Power, Grid and Energy Strategy
How a data centre actually gets its power — the grid connection queue, on-site generation, power purchase agreements and tariff structures — and why the energy strategy is usually the binding constraint on the whole project.
Sustainability, Water and Regulation
PUE, WUE and what the efficiency metrics actually measure, the cooling and water trade-off that decides siting in hot and arid markets, and the planning, moratorium and community risks that now shape where data centres can be built.
Operations, Asset Management and Exit
What owning a data centre actually involves after handover — service level agreements and uptime, expansion and re-tenanting, how the sector is valued, and who buys these assets at exit.
Course assessment
Sign in to open lessons and track your progress.
The capstone project
This course ends in a real professional deliverable. Use the brief and the five criteria below to check your own work against the standard a competent professional would be held to.
Your final deliverable
Data Centre Opportunity: Adviser's Recommendation
Check your work against five criteria
- Method & rigour: The right framework, applied correctly, with the working shown — not just an answer.
- Data honesty: Every figure is sourced, triangulated, or explicitly flagged “requires local market data”. Nothing is invented.
- Analysis & judgment: Assumptions are explicit, at least one alternative is weighed, and the key risks are quantified.
- Recommendation: A clear, decision-useful conclusion a professional could act on — with the conditions that qualify it.
- Communication: Structured, concise, and client-ready — the argument lands.
When it's ready
Your deliverable is ready when it meets the bar on all five criteria — work a competent professional could put in front of a client or committee.
Revising your work
The capstone is self-directed: you check your own work against the rubric. Where a criterion isn't met yet, revise that part and check it again — as many times as you need.
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