Davis Langdon to advise on £2bn Turkish eco-town

Davis Langdon has won a contract worth “tens of millions of dollars” to advise on the construction of a £2bn health-based eco-town in Turkey.

The QS, which is part of US engineer Aecom, has been advising the developer of the town, which is called Bio Istanbul (pictured), on costs and how to plan the construction.

The town, for which Atkins has drawn up the concept masterplan, will accommodate 40,000-50,000 workers in a hospital and surrounding science park, as well providing homes for 10,000-15,000 people. Bio Istanbul is also in discussions with Atkins about an ongoing role on the project.

Tobias Levey, chief executive of developer Bio City, said: “There are great construction companies in Turkey but they’re not used to the goals in terms of quality that we’re talking about. That’s why we’ve engaged amazing international consultants to bring it up to that level.”

The news comes as it was revealed this week that Davis Langdon’s parent company Aecom plans to grow its European business by 30% in three years.

In an interview with Building, Aecom’s Europe chief executive Steve Morriss said this would be achieved by shutting down divisions the firm did not see a future in and investing in those it did.

Morriss, who joined Aecom from Mouchel in January, said: “If you are not going to put funds in a certain part of the business, you may as well shut it down tomorrow.”

Morriss plans to invest 10% of the European division’s £600m turnover in emerging markets including Russia, Turkey, Poland and Spain and in sectors such as sport, transport and commercial development.

But the business’ operation in Georgia has been shut down and Morriss revealed that the group would be slowing down its businesses in France and Scandinavia as well as in the UK public sector.

Morriss’ strategy is part of a plan to grow Aecom’s European business, which currently makes up only about 10% of the consultant’s $7.2bn (£4.4bn) global turnover.