Washington, DC - The Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) announces the design/build construction award for a new U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, to B.L. Harbert, International of Birmingham, Alabama.

The new Embassy will be located on a 16.5-acre site in the Bluff Hill Township area, approximately 6.2 miles northwest of the city center. The campus will include an office building and associated support facilities. Site work is expected to begin summer 2015, and completion of the project is anticipated in 2018.

AECOM of Washington, D.C., is the design architect, and PAGE of Washington, D.C., is the architect of record.

Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, OBO has completed 122 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 39 projects in design or under construction.

OBO’s mission is to provide safe, secure, and functional facilities that represent the U.S. Government to the host nation and support our staff in the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives. These facilities should represent American values and the best in American architecture, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, and construction execution.