Westminster official in charge of Marble Arch Mound joins Aecom

The Westminster council official who oversaw the controversial Marble Arch Mound project and who hit the headlines earlier this year after it was revealed he was earning more than the local authority’s chief executive has joined Aecom.

In January, it emerged that former Mecanoo director Elad Eisenstein was on a salary of £220,000 – almost £3,000 a year more than the authority’s chief executive.

Eisenstein, who was programme director for the council’s Oxford Street District initiative, which was designed to help the area recover from the impact of the pandemic, left the authority last summer after less than a year in the role.

The mound was criticised for being an eyesore and trebled in budget to £6m. Rotterdam-based architect MVRDV, the practice responsible for the attraction, later said it should have walked away from the project claiming the authority lost interest and was excluded from construction phase talks. The mound was dismantled earlier this year.

Aecom said Eisenstein had joined the firm in a newly created role of director of city masterplanning and urban design.

Other schemes he has worked on include the International Quarter Stratford City, NOMA in Manchester and the Singapore Sports Hub.

Richard Green, Aecom’s UK and Ireland urban advisory lead, said: “We need to bring together global talent with the big-picture vision to help cities and regions adapt. Elad brings world-class skills and experience to the team and will help us deliver our vision where infrastructure creates opportunity for our cities and our clients.”

Aecom said Eisenstein’s brief will be to develop its business in city-led masterplanning and strategic intervention sectors which it added was part of a five-year plan.

Eisenstein was also a director of Ramboll for a year before joining Westminster and spent 15 years at Arup where he was a principal.

Meanwhile, Aecom’s former managing director of its environment and ground engineering business is leaving the firm – weeks after he stepped down from the board following a rejig.

Craig Edwards was appointed to the board last spring but stepped down last month after the firm said Belgian Gert Vermeiren was taking over as boss of the environmental division.

At the time, Aecom said Edwards was staying with the business and that more details of his new role would be announced soon.

But an Aecom spokesperson confirmed that Edwards is going after 18 years at the firm. “Sadly, Craig Edwards has decided to leave Aecom to pursue other opportunities. We want to thank Craig for his service to our business over the last 18 years and wish him all the success for the future.”

Vermeiren has been with Aecom for eight years and came across to the business after the firm completed the purchase of rival URS in 2014.