Colocation provider Switch is planning to commence an ambitious expansion project in Las Vegas this year. The company plans to start construction on an additional 1.6m sq ft of data center space adjacent to its existing 400,000-sq-ft SuperNAP facility in Las Vegas in March, reports Data Center Knowledge.

Switch CEO Rob Roy was quoted as attributing the immensity of the project’s scale to demand for high-density data center space driven by the increasing adoption of cloud computing. "The client needs that are coming to us are moving to this huge scale," Roy told DCK. "Cloud changes the entire business model."

At full build-out, the company’s SuperNAP West campus will provide more than 2m sq ft of data center floor and 500MVA of power, according to the company’s website. The capacity will be cooled by more than 200,000 tons of cooling.

The site will be able to accommodate more than 31,000 equipment cabinets. In addition to data center floor, the campus will include 500,000 sq ft of office space.

In addition to an ambitious expansion program, Switch also has a pattern of strong R&D investment. The company currently has more than 30 patent claims filed.

One of the patents it holds is a modular power and cooling infrastructure system used on its data center floor. Called Wattage Density Modular Design, the system includes proprietary air handlers, a heat containment system, HVAC distribution pathways, a power-spine structure and a "tri-redundant" power system.