> If you designed […]

University department IT is not designed, it grows over decades.

At some point some benefactor may pay for a new building and the department will move, so that could be a chance to actually design. But modern architecture and architects don't really go well with hosting lots of servers in what is ostensibly office space.

I've been involved in the build-out of buildings/office space on three occasions in my career, and trying to get a decent IT space pencilled has always been like pulling teeth.