Data Center Construction Support in New Mexico
Seven operating buildings and three more under development: that is how Meta's campus at Los Lunas stood in July 2025, passing four million square feet. A data center like that is not a metal building project in the usual sense. The data halls need concrete, heavy power and cooling plants, and a security envelope most pre-engineered systems are not designed around. The steel part of a data campus is real, though, and it is where we work.
We build the buildings around the halls: the warehouse and staging space where equipment arrives, the generator and switchgear enclosures, maintenance shops, loading docks and the smaller edge facilities that do not need a full hall. A pre-engineered shell goes up fast, can be wide and tall, and leaves the inside open for racks, trays and utilities.
We say plainly where we fit and where a different system fits better. Hyperscale halls are a specialty. The support buildings around them are ours, and the work comes in waves as each hall is energized.
Where the campuses are going
A July 2025 report said the Meta data center employed more than 1,000 construction workers at peak, is projected to support 400 operational jobs after expansion and has generated $145 million in gross receipts tax for the village from 2016 through mid-2025. Project Jupiter is described in an August 2026 article as a 1,400 acre data center under construction in Santa Teresa. A marketed site of about 365 acres near Belen, next to a power generation station, is pitched for data center development.
The pattern is a campus. One big building draws a string of support structures over years, and each one needs a permit, a site plan and a contractor. That staggered work suits metal buildings, which can be ordered and raised in a season. See our Los Lunas and Santa Teresa pages for the corridors we serve.
Support buildings we frame
Typical metal structures on a data campus include equipment staging warehouses, spare parts storage, generator yards under a roof, fuel and water pump houses, maintenance shops and security gate buildings. Each one has its own clear height and door pattern, but all benefit from a quick dry-in and an interior that can hold racks, pallets or machines.
For wide staging space, a warehouse frame works well. For a chilled-water plant or generator hall, we add structure for hoist beams, heavy slab zones and removable wall panels so a generator can be swapped later. Our pre-engineered metal buildings page describes the frame systems we use.
Power, water and approvals
The 2021 New Mexico Commercial Building Code (14.7.2 NMAC), effective July 14, 2023, covers the structure. The 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code (14.10.4 NMAC), effective March 28, 2023, covers the wiring, which is the center of any data project. Large loads bring a utility interconnect study that can take a long time, and water for cooling raises a separate question about supply and rights.
Security needs often go beyond the building code. Fencing, vehicle barriers, controlled doors and camera coverage affect the layout and the schedule. We coordinate with the owner's security consultant so wall penetrations and slab sleeves are in the right places before panels go on.
Dust, heat and distance
Dust is an equipment issue in the high desert. A data support building with open louvers needs filtered air or sealed rooms, and the roof slope and gutters need attention to avoid fouling. Summer heat on a dark roof raises the cooling load, so panel color and insulation get a second look.
Distance is the other factor. Los Lunas sits on the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque and is close to the interstate, while Santa Teresa is at the southern edge of the state near the border. Crews, trucks and cranes have to travel, and we plan lodging and delivery windows so a large campus does not wait on small shipments.
Phasing a campus
We plan support buildings in step with the main contractor. Staging space is often needed first, because the data hall's equipment has to land somewhere. We raise that shell early and move on to generator and pump houses as the power plan firms up.
Monsoon season can interrupt crane work, and spring wind can stop it for days. Add float in those months. If your project is a smaller edge data center, a single-building plan with an adjacent flex light industrial style bay can fit utility and office needs in one frame.
Budget notes for support structures
The steel shell is inexpensive next to the equipment it houses, so the money questions are about the slab and the site. Generator yards need thick slabs with trench routes and secondary containment. Staging space needs a durable floor and enough docks for tractor-trailer traffic. Pump houses need a pad, a pit and a drain. Every one of those is a separate foundation design.
A good budget separates the building from the campus work around it: grading, drainage, fencing, power extension and roads. On a large campus those lines can exceed the cost of all the metal buildings combined. We break out our scope clearly so your team can compare it with the general contractor's site work, and we flag the items that depend on the warehousing and distribution style trucking that serves an equipment-heavy campus.
Tell us which building you need
Send us the campus plan, the support buildings and the utility schedule. We will return a frame, a slab concept and a schedule that fits your main contractor's sequence.
Common Questions
Do you build the data halls themselves?
We focus on the metal buildings around the halls: staging, storage, shops, generator and pump houses and small edge facilities. The main hall usually has special structure and security needs that are a different specialty. We will say so early if a metal system is not the right choice.
How fast can a staging warehouse be built?
The steel and panels can be raised in a few weeks once the slab is cured. Foundation work and permit review often take longer. Ordering the building early and pouring the slab promptly are the biggest time savers.
Can a metal building be built with controlled access?
Yes. Doors, vestibules, sleeves and conduit can be placed in the wall panel layout and slab, and security hardware is installed by the owner's vendor. The key is to decide the locations before the shop drawings are approved.
What power does a small edge data center need?
It varies widely. The utility will tell you what service is available and when. For a small building, a single transformer and a standby generator may be enough, but the lead time on both can be long.
Does a data center building need special fire protection?
Yes, and the choice between water-based and clean-agent systems depends on the owner and the insurer. The building official and the fire marshal review the plan. We provide the shell with the roof loads and penetrations the system needs.
