AECOM has been selected to draw up a masterplan for a new 15,000 home garden city in Kent.

The project, in Ebbsfleet, was identified in the government's 2014 budget. Up to £200m of infrastructure funding is available to begin the development.

Aecom will lead a team comprising of three sub-consultants; architect Maccreanor Lavington, commercial property and real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, and landscape specialist Spacehub.

The design plans will comprise of an area spanning 1,026 hectares. Working closely with landowners and developers, the framework will connect housing growth with existing and future infrastructure investment to accelerate housing development.

-- Advertisement --

The Ebbsfleet International Rail Station on the High-Speed 1 European rail line will be at the centre of the project.

AECOM was appointed via its position on the Homes and Communities Agency's Multi-disciplinary Framework Agreement 2014-2018.

Andrew Jones, Practice Leader – Design, Planning & Economics for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India at AECOM, said: "Ebbsfleet is the most significant strategic framework masterplan to be commissioned in the UK since the Olympic Park. As well as creating a new and distinctive community with excellent connections to London and Europe, the garden city will be a well-designed, self-sufficient settlement where people want to live, work and visit."

Work on the project is to begin immediately, with the final framework masterplan due to be completed in 2016.

(LM/CD)