Data Center Workforce Camp — 32-Acre Site Civil Engineering in Childress, TX
Childress · Childress County · Texas
Industrial, Warehouse & Metal Building Development
Rapid-turnaround civil design for a 420-person camp supporting a data center build
JRH Engineering provided civil engineering design for a 32-acre workforce camp in Childress, Texas, built to house the construction workforce for a data center project — a 420-person community with a shared kitchen, recreation room and laundry facility, plus a 150-space RV park. Working directly with site contractor Diffco LLC and Energy Mechanical Services, JRH delivered the design in phases so earthwork could begin before the full civil package was complete. The whole design took 26 days.
AT A GLANCE
Project facts
Project type — data center workforce camp, civil engineering
Location — Childress, Childress County, Texas
Site size — 32 acres
Capacity — housing for 420 people, plus a 150-space RV park
Design timeline — 26 days, August 10 – September 4, 2026
Partners — Diffco LLC (site contractor), Energy Mechanical Services (mechanical and utility contractor)
Client — confidential
Site civil design
Complete site civil design for a 32-acre workforce housing community — housing pad areas, internal roadways and site grading
Supporting infrastructure designed for a shared kitchen, recreation room and laundry facility
Housing, shared facilities and RV park delivered as one coordinated site plan
Utility infrastructure
Utility design and coordination for a 150-space RV park
Utility systems designed in parallel with earthwork already underway on earlier phases
Project coordination
Design delivered in phases so Diffco LLC could begin earthwork while JRH continued utility design
One to three coordination meetings a day with Diffco LLC and Energy Mechanical Services throughout the design period
The Challenge — a full civil package in weeks, not months
The project had to move from design start to a completed civil package in a matter of weeks — a timeline with no room for the usual design-then-build sequence. Data center construction cannot start until its workforce has somewhere to live, so the camp sat on the critical path of the larger build. Housing 420 people plus a 150-space RV park on one 32-acre site also meant coordinating grading, roadways and utilities for a high-density temporary community, all under the same time pressure.
JRH’s Approach — design delivered in parts, construction started early
JRH structured the design to be delivered in parts rather than as a single finished package. Diffco LLC mobilized and began earthwork on portions of the site while JRH’s team continued designing the utility systems in parallel, instead of waiting for a complete design before construction could start. To keep both teams aligned on a schedule moving this fast, JRH held one to three coordination meetings a day with Diffco LLC and Energy Mechanical Services for the length of the design period.
The Results
01
Complete civil design delivered in 26 days for a 32-acre, 420-person data center workforce camp
02
Phased delivery let site work begin before the full design package was finished
03
Daily coordination kept design and construction moving on the same schedule
04
Housing, shared kitchen, recreation room, laundry facility and 150-space RV park delivered as one coordinated site plan
Frequently Asked Questions