I built my own rack for my apartment homelab as well. It's just unfinished pine, but it's a horizontal rack instead of the typical vertical rack to make better use of my limited space. Here's the album on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/D0lXM
Beatiful workmanship though, I wish I could fabricate things like that.
If I need more support while handling shoes, I just sit on the stairs or lean against the wall or hold on to the railing. In other words, there are an abundance of anchor points that aren't free standing.
And thanks for the kind words. This is the first thing I've fabricated out of wood in years. It was very satisfying to finally finish it - metaphorically, as it's not actually stained or sealed.
OpenSCAD seems to be a great tool, are there any reference guides or tutorials you recommend to use it?
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that the main reason DCs need special ventilation is due to sheer number of servers producing a lot more heat combined.
As well, savings can be had by running separate hot/cold aisles - cold air goes into the front of the racks, and the hot air is of course found on the other side of the racks, so that hot air is the focus of the chiller.
Instead, the top surface now holds my daily carry gear and anything I need to take with me in the near future, such as gifts for family.