British colocation specialist Volta has announced plans to expand its data center in Clerkenwell, located in close proximity to the City of London. The facility in Great Sutton Street will be adding a third floor, to keep up with the demand for colocation in one of the world’s most active markets.

“The fitting out of the third floor is a significant step in the evolution of Volta as a business and testament to the popularity of the Central London location,” said Matthew Dent, CEO of Volta.

“We already have several interested parties including existing customers who are set to expand and keen to utilize the additional resource which Volta will be able to provide.”

Filling the space

Volta was established in 2012, with its first facility located close to the trading and financial services industries of the Square Mile. The 91,000 sq ft data center on Great Sutton Street occupies a building that previously hosted the European headquarters of the Reuters news agency.

It was refitted to comply with Tier III standards, and benefits from two separate 33kV power feeds - something that ensures uninterruptible power in all but most extreme cases.

The company has contracted Gratte Brothers Limited to fit out the third floor of the building and turn it into data halls.

“We are delighted to be working with Grattes,” said Dent. “We believe that they have the knowledge of our organization and the expertise to create an expansion of our current data center space, which is in keeping with our state of the art design and provides our customers with the best possible environment.”

At the end of last year, Volta began offering SLAs based around power availability – if a customer loses power, they will get a whole year of service for free. The company also offers a utility-based billing scheme, allowing non-committed customers to pay for colocation services by the hour.