Bio Istanbul is a US$2.2bn (£1.4bn) biomedical science park with a children’s hospital and sustainable residential community.
Davis Langdon will provide specialist healthcare cost and programme management services in collaboration with Aecom’s engineering team to help realise the first community in Turkey built to meet internationally certified sustainability standards.
The 192ha site will include the tertiary care children’s hospital, biomedical research and development facilities, and complementary commercial, retail and residential clusters. Bio Istanbul is designed to accommodate 15,000 residents and a further 35,000 working commuters. Companies will include pharmaceutical, medical technology and biomedical informatics companies.
Davis Langdon had worked closely with the client throughout the initial feasibility studies and financial due diligence stages of the project before the latest construction cost and programme management appointment. The project also involves Aecom’s engineering team, which is working with a technology company that is designing and implementing the IT ‘smart city’ infrastructure and will also be one of Bio Istanbul’s first flagship tenants. The ‘smart city’ infrastructure initiatives are designed to ensure efficient use of energy and facilities and provide an integrated transport network with an intra-site public tramway and a comprehensive site security system.
Drew Carr-Ellison, chief operating officer for BCDco, said: “Bio Istanbul is an ambitious and exceptional project which will transform paediatric healthcare and biomedical research and development in Turkey and the surrounding regions. To take one example, the Turkish pharmaceutical industry today spends approximately $40 million per year on R&D. When compared with the $10+ billion spent in each of the major Western economies, the importance of the project to Turkey’s transition to a knowledge-based economy becomes clear."
Philip Hynard, a director in Davis Langdon’s healthcare team, said: “This is a truly innovative project that will provide the most advanced healthcare and research facilities for the people of Turkey. Having the opportunity to work on a scheme that transcends conventional boundaries, and one which will provide a new quality benchmark across the globe, is very exciting for the entire Aecom family.”
Stage 1 in the development of Bio Istanbul will begin this month and will see the masterplan for the site designed, with construction due to begin on site in the summer of 2012. Davis Langdon is also working with BCDco on schemes in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
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