Architects appointed on £5bn Universal Studios theme park

More details of the firms who have won roles on Universal Studios’ scheme to build a new £5bn theme park at a former brickworks near Bedford have been released.

Called Universal United Kingdom Resort, the scheme is set to be Europe’s largest and will be built on nearly 500 acres of land at Kempston Hardwick.

It will be the US firm’s first theme park in Europe, with the company already having several in its home country as well as the Far East and Asia.

Now more than 20 firms including Gensler, Arup and AtkinsRéalis have been confirmed as working on the job with others including consultants RLB, Buro Happold, Arcadis and Mace Consult and RLB.

In all, 23 architects, contractors and consultants are working on the scheme, which is set to be Europe’s largest.

It will be the US firm’s first theme park in Europe, with the company already having several in its home country as well as the Far East and Asia.

The resort is expected to complete by 2031 and by the time it finishes will have created 20,000 construction jobs with 5,000 workers on site during peak.

A spokesperson for Universal Destinations & Experiences told Building: “A project of this scale will see us partnering with a range of different vendors, including locally based businesses who are already on-site supporting initial enabling works.”

The government is ploughing £1.3bn into the project for “regional and local community infrastructure to ensure the park can operate successfully, with improved transport links for local residents and visitors from across the UK and abroad”.

Comcast NBCUniversal, the firm behind the plans, said it would be investing over £5bn into the resort during its five years of construction as well as a further £1bn during its first 10 years of operation.

Universal expects the scheme to generate £50bn of revenue for the economy by 2055 and earlier this year said it had appointed Veolia to design and build a major new water treatment facility aiming to reduce the pressure which the theme park could put on nearby Bedford’s water infrastructure.

The facility, which will recycle and reuse water including rainwater runoff, will be operated by UK facilities management firm ESP Utilities Group.

In June, Building Design’s sister title Building revealed that the UK resort has been divided into five zones with Bovis building two and Sir Robert McAlpine one. Others also building a zone each are Wates and Morgan Sindall while Careys was appointed to carry out groundworks ahead of main construction beginning.