The Stone Collective is to host a talk with architect Carl Fredrik Svenstedt exploring how stone could be used to rethink one of the most energy-intensive forms of contemporary infrastructure: the data centre.

The event will focus on Svenstedt's Stone Clouds concept for Evroc, a series of data centres designed around structural stone and adapted to their local climate and material resources. The first project is planned near Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where a 4,000m² facility will use standardised structural Swedish granite panels.

The scheme challenges the familiar concrete-box approach to data centre design, using the mass of stone as part of the building's environmental and structural strategy. The proposed Swedish facility comprises a triangular base supporting two oval towers, with the granite walls providing thermal inertia as well as security and structural stability.

The wider Stone Clouds concept is intended to adapt to different European conditions. In northern Europe, granite and hydroelectric power form part of the strategy; elsewhere, the proposal considers limestone and solar power or rammed earth and wind energy. The buildings are also conceived to accommodate change, with the potential to be converted from data centres to offices, housing or cultural uses in the future.

The discussion is a natural extension of The Stone Collective's work since its formation in 2024. The cross-industry initiative brings together quarry operators, stonemasons, architects and engineers to promote the use of stone in contemporary construction, with its activities spanning research, education, events and a growing series of publications on structural stone.

Stone Clouds takes that conversation into the digital infrastructure sector, asking what happens when a material associated with ancient construction is reconsidered for buildings at the centre of contemporary technology.

The talk will take place in London, with an opportunity for informal drinks and networking afterwards.

The Stone Collective: Carl Fredrik Svenstedt, Stone Clouds

Market Building, 72-82 Rosebery Ave, London, EC1R 4RW

7th October 6-8pm

Further details and tickets: Eventbrite