{"id":170124,"date":"2026-07-07T11:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/?p=170124"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T10:38:22","slug":"why-the-quantum-race-is-moving-beyond-the-theoretical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/2026\/07\/07\/why-the-quantum-race-is-moving-beyond-the-theoretical\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the quantum race is moving beyond the theoretical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As quantum computing moves closer to commercial reality, Daniel Thorpe, JLL Head of Data Centre Research, EMEA, says\u00a0success will depend not only on advances in physics and software but also on purpose-built real estate capable of supporting highly specialised quantum infrastructure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The global race for quantum advantage is being conducted at such a breathless pace it can be difficult to keep up with what is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one thing is clear. It is definitely accelerating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Q Day\u2019 \u2013 the theoretical date when quantum computers become powerful enough to break today’s widely used public-key cryptography \u2013 will arrive, most experts predict, within the next three, maybe even two years ahead of predictions made even relatively recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As this date approaches the conversation has been dominated almost entirely by discussions about physics and software: quantum companies\u2019 qubit counts, error correction rates and algorithmic breakthroughs. Meanwhile venture capital and tech companies have chased the brightest minds in quantum mechanics, viewing them as the essential gatekeepers to a world of unparalleled technological promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If real estate has made an appearance in this conversation, it has been little more than an afterthought \u2013 nothing more than a shell to house the brilliance of the talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the technology moves rapidly out of the theoretical realm and into industrial scale, the battleground is shifting. We are entering the physical era of quantum computing. The immediate challenge facing the sector is no longer just how to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer, but where to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While traditional hyperscale data centres evolved to support cloud computing and the massive power density demands of generative AI, the commercial real estate (CRE) sector is now grappling with a completely different beast: the Quantum Data Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To scale successfully, quantum companies must realise that their physical facility strategy is just as critical as their talent acquisition. To put it bluntly: if you build a multi-million-dollar quantum processor in the wrong building, it simply will not work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In traditional data centre site selection, proximity to fibre lines, cheap power and low-risk tax jurisdictions dominate the checklist. For quantum computing, the primary requirement is much more fundamental: absolute physical stability \u2013 and this has profound consequences for how quantum companies should develop their commercial real estate strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quantum processors, particularly those relying on superconducting qubits or trapped ions, operate at the truly microscopic scale of reality. As a result, they are profoundly sensitive to environmental interference. Micro-vibrations \u2013 invisible to humans and entirely harmless to conventional silicon servers \u2013 can instantly disrupt quantum superposition and cause catastrophic calculation errors or “decoherence” as it is known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This creates a stark site selection mandate. A nearby railway line, a busy highway, heavy industrial manufacturing or even the routine low-frequency hum of a building\u2019s own HVAC system can ruin a multi-million-dollar quantum investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding locations that offer high-capacity power grids while remaining entirely isolated from urban vibrations is one of the hardest real estate puzzles we are looking to answer today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engineering requirements of these facilities create a stark utility paradox. On one hand, the core quantum chip requires an environment colder than deep space \u2013 achieved through complex, helium-fed dilution refrigerators. On the other hand, the classical supercomputers and control systems required to operate, interpret and manage these quantum systems demand massive, scaling megawatt capacity from the regional grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a standalone quantum computer might initially appear to have a modest power footprint compared to a 100-megawatt AI cluster, scaling these machines into true cloud-accessible quantum data centres rebalances the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators must weigh the extreme, delicate cryogenic cooling infrastructure against escalating power demands on grids that are already heavily constrained by the AI boom. For this reason, real estate strategies must secure facilities that are sited in locations where power allocations are guaranteed and have not already been claimed by established data centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is another consideration that needs to be factored in: talent. And this also has consequences for a quantum company\u2019s real estate strategy. Because quantum computing relies heavily on a highly specialised, hyper-localised ecosystem comprising academia, national laboratories and tech talent, we are seeing the rise of dedicated ‘Quantum Hubs’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most prominent example of this trend is the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) in Chicago. Spanning 128 acres on a historic industrial site bordering Lake Michigan, the IQMP anchors the broader 440-acre, US$9bn Quantum Shore redevelopment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes IQMP a true bellwether for commercial real estate is its holistic approach. It isn’t just an isolated lab park; it is being developed as a comprehensive “live-work” quantum community that integrates advanced manufacturing facilities, research centres, housing and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are seeing similar clustering dynamics globally in cities as diverse as Hefei in China, Munich in Germany and Boston in the US. Those that will ultimately win the quantum race will be the ones that successfully blend institutional research with master-planned, high-amenity real estate where talent can live in vibrant, connected ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with the urgency of deployment, many operators are asking whether they can speed up time-to-market by retrofitting existing Tier IV data centres. On paper, it sounds attractive: the power infrastructure, security perimeter and structural shells are already built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, the financial and structural friction of converting traditional infrastructure into a quantum-ready environment is incredibly high. Trying to strip out the heavy, vibrating industrial fans of a Tier IV facility and modifying the slab to support massive, vertically suspended dilution refrigerators often costs more than building from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While selective retrofits may work for specific photonic or room-temperature quantum modalities, for large-scale, fault-tolerant systems, purpose-built, ground-up development remains the most financially viable and risk-averse path forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The companies that win the quantum race will not just be those with the smartest physicists or the deepest pockets. They will be the companies that successfully navigate the realities of the physical built environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the quantum era, real estate should no longer be viewed as a corporate overhead cost; rather it is a key pillar of any company\u2019s business strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As quantum computing moves closer to commercial reality, Daniel Thorpe, JLL Head of Data Centre Research, EMEA, says\u00a0success will depend not only on advances in physics and software but also on purpose-built real estate capable of supporting highly specialised quantum infrastructure. The global race for quantum advantage is being conducted at such a breathless pace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":170125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,21942,93],"tags":[19517,26184,26183,98,76,14683,3295,26182,26185,25896],"class_list":["post-170124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-centres","category-quantum","category-top-stories","tag-ai-infrastructure","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-cryogenic-cooling","tag-data-centres","tag-digital-transformation","tag-jll","tag-quantum-computing","tag-quantum-data-centres","tag-quantum-hubs","tag-quantum-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170126,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170124\/revisions\/170126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}