Home to some of the world’s most iconic financial and banking institutions, Zurich is now set to further expand its data centre footprint as NTT Global Data Centers breaks ground on its latest facility in the Swiss city.

The development at NTT’s Zurich 1 building is to add 48,500 square feet of space to the operator’s already existing 70,000 square feet centre in Ruemlang, close to the EnergieVerbund Airport City, according to an NTT manager speaking to local newspaper Zuercher Unterlaender.

The expansion, known as Building B, is to be phased, with the first part set to be completed by February 2022, and full construction to closed by February 2023.

Once fully build, Building B and Building A combined will provide a maximum client IT load of 18 MW.

In its presentation brochure, NTT describes as the “home to one of the world’s largest financial centres”.

It continues: “The majority of Swiss bank headquarters are in Zurich, and a large number of foreign banks are present in the area. The Swiss Stock Exchange, located in Zurich, is one of the world’s most prominent stock exchanges.

“Many of Switzerland’s largest companies are headquartered in Zurich, such as ABB, UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re and Zurich Financial Services. Zurich is also a major hub for ICT in Europe, major technology companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Apple and Huawei all have a base in Zurich. The city is also a leader of innovation that is emerging as a thriving start-up location.”

NTT is not alone in its expansion drive in Zurich with several other national and international players currently expanding in the city.

This includes, for example, Digital Realty’s Interxion which is building a new US$220 million facility in the same area as NTT in three phases and expected to support the delivery of over 118,000 square feet of total equipped space and 24 megawatts of customer capacity when fully built out.

The first phase is expected to provide approximately 31,200 square feet and is scheduled to open by mid-year 2022.