The construction sector is experiencing a singular moment. While conventional office and residential projects grow at moderate pace, one category of project is experiencing unprecedented growth: critical infrastructure megaprojects in semiconductors, defence and biomanufacturing.
In 2025-2026 alone, global construction megaprojects exceeded $134 billion — a 47% increase over 2024. And in sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, defence and biomanufacturing, that growth is even more pronounced.
These projects share one characteristic that distinguishes them radically from conventional construction: the technical demands of the building are so complex and specific that no infrastructure decision can be left to the construction phase. Raised access flooring is one of them — and in the best projects of this type, it is specified at the programming stage.
Why these sectors demand more from the floor system
Semiconductors and microelectronics
Semiconductor manufacturing facilities are the most technically demanding environments in industrial construction. Precision electrostatic control, near-zero vibration, continuous access to specialty gas installations and air purification systems — all in facilities that can exceed 100,000 m² and must be operational without interruption from day one.
In these environments, the raised access floor is not a finishing element. It is part of the building’s environmental control system. The plenum houses gas supply installations, precision HVAC systems and control cabling — and must be accessible at any time without interrupting production.
Defence and security infrastructure
Defence and national security infrastructure projects concentrate in a single building demands that rarely coexist in other sectors — maximum load capacity, strict electrostatic control, A1 fire classification, certified antiseismic performance and absolute operational continuity.
The Full Steel raised access floor, specified with the GAMAFLOR antiseismic bracing system, is the reference solution in this type of project — as demonstrated by the installation at the CCTV service building at the Haram in Mecca and the MOI Diplomatic Area project in Riyadh.
Biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical industry
Biomanufacturing facilities combine the demands of a research laboratory with those of an industrial production plant. Contamination control, chemical resistance, intensive cleaning protocols and the need to reconfigure the space as production processes evolve — all in an environment where flexibility is not optional.
Why specification must happen at the programming stage
In critical infrastructure megaprojects, late raised access floor specification does not just generate coordination problems — it generates redesign costs that can far exceed the cost of the floor system itself.
Plenum height, ESD strategy, required fire classification, antiseismic bracing system and MEP coordination are variables that must be defined before the clear height of each floor is fixed, before the structure is dimensioned and before the HVAC system is coordinated.
In the projects that get it right, the raised access floor enters the design conversation at the same time as the structure. In those that get it late, the cost of corrections always exceeds the cost of having done it right from the beginning.
At Polygroup, we support architects, engineers and project managers on critical infrastructure projects from the programming stage, ensuring that the floor system is optimised to respond to the real demands of the project before any other design decision is made.
Working on a critical infrastructure megaproject? Our technical team can support your specification from the programming stage. Contact us.
