Vantage Data Centers expands EMEA portfolio

Company on schedule to welcome customers to ZRH2 this summer amid growing regional demand.

  • Friday, 12th April 2024 Posted 2 weeks ago in by Phil Alsop

Vantage Data Centers will open a second Zurich campus (ZRH2) this summer. The highly-secure and carrier-neutral campus will provide 24MW of critical IT capacity, and when combined with Vantage’s flagship Zurich campus (ZRH1), both campuses will offer customers 64MW of capacity for their computing requirements.

This campus, the company’s 33rd globally, is located 30 kilometers north of Zurich’s City Center in Glattfelden. It is conveniently situated just over 20 kilometers from Vantage’s ZRH1 campus in Winterthur and 15 minutes from Zurich Airport.

ZRH2 will have a total of 226,000 square feet (21,000 square meters) of space for Vantage’s customers consisting of hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. It comes online as the company is seeing increased demand globally to support artificial intelligence and other high-performance computing applications.

“Zurich is a rapidly growing data center market due to its strategic central location and its global financial leadership, and we expect to continue developing in this market based on customer demand,” said David Howson, president of Vantage Data Centers, EMEA. “Across Europe and the globe, the demand for highly efficient, hyperscale data centers is booming to meet the needs of next generation applications, from powerful AI models to high-performance computing and cloud transformation. Vantage is prepared to meet that demand for current and new customers, and we look forward to opening the doors of our latest data center this summer.”

Vantage Data Centers has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions across its global portfolio by 2030 with a holistic approach to environmental sustainability. In line with the company’s “Sustainable by Design” blueprint, ZRH2 will deliver industry-leading power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE) to support energy-efficient operations.

As a responsible corporate citizen who is committed to being a good neighbor, Vantage has installed air source (ASHP) and water source (WSHP) heat pumps within ZRH2. These heat pumps will convert waste heat for use to condition administrative spaces and reduce external energy use. ZRH2 will also provide waste heat to a nearby hotel and seminar center.

Additionally, ZRH2 will leverage rainwater infiltration and a green roof to minimize environmental impacts. It will feature a unique wood-finished facade, highly durable to withstand the local environment's harsh seasons and align with the look and feel of the community.

Vantage will employ more than 400 individuals during peak construction and create approximately 25 jobs to operate the campus.