AKOYA Oxygen is the latest and most ambitious development in DAMAC’s residential portfolio. Comprising 500 hectares of lush expanse, an 18-hole Championship golf course and a five-star hotel, this luxury desert-inspired address will provide opulent homes for 50,000 residents.

AECOM’s scope includes masterplanning, traffic impact assessment, environment impact assessment and infrastructure design. Also included in the contract is the design of the first 1,000 luxury villas that form phase 1.

Bryan Avison, project director, AECOM, comments: “This is truly a fast-track project; the first tender package will be awarded to a contractor within seven weeks and construction of the first 1,000 villas will commence within six months. It is a challenging program, even for Dubai standards. Because of this, DAMAC came to AECOM.”

Sharif Seleem, general manager, DAMAC, said: “DAMAC chose AECOM as the lead masterplanning and infrastructure consultant for AKOYA Oxygen because we believe in long-term relationships. We have been looking for the best technical partner who is able to realise our development vision within such a challenging development schedule. Our history with AECOM to date shows that it is a company that has the skills, resources and capabilities to complement our in-house team in delivering mega luxury development.”