Digital Realty Trust says it has bought a 5.37-acre site at De President, Hoofddorp, Haarlemmermeer, a suburb of Amsterdam, where it plans to build a 15,900 sq m, 11.5MW data center. The development plans include six data halls, each capable of supporting 1.92MW of IT load.

Construction of the data center is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, with the first two data halls scheduled to be delivered in mid-2014. Each data hall will be designed using Digital Realty's POD 3.0 architecture, a modular approach to building mechanical and electrical systems.

In addition to providing access to a number of international network carriers, the site will connect, via Amsterdam's main fiber ring, to Digital Realty's other European and US data centers.

Bernard Geoghegan, managing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, for Digital Realty, said, Amsterdam was located at the heart of the demand the company saw for today's networked data center requirements across Europe. “Our state-of-the-art De President facility will provide an ecosystem unrivaled in terms of connectivity to support companies of all sizes in Amsterdam,” he said.

Digital Realty CEO Michael Foust told FOCUS in March about the company's plans to add capacity in Amsterdam. The city, together with London, are the most active markets for IT services and digital content, he said.

The company is developing new data center space in the London market as well.