I don’t like being a “well actually” but I keep seeing that tweet about successful tech companies in old buildings. I’ve written about this in the past and the folks I interviewed made it clear: companies like these buildings because they have hardy floorplates.

The thick floorplates can withstand large servers that run hot; many of these older structures also housed large marchinery. I hesitate to say “all the ~~successful~~ companies use old buildings” because improvements on offsite data storage has changed structural requirements

But it’s not always a question of who is smarter or more successful. Sure people like retrofitted stuff but also legacy start-up environments had structural necessities. Zuckerberg I’m sure didn’t say “this is more sustainable.”

It is, very much so, better for the planet. But as we see offshore data centers or huge rural data storage sites we will see design priorities change back to “new glassy tall thing makes us look chic” plus offices are now irrelevant so