SOM, Snohetta and Morphosis have been shortlisted to design a new US embassy compound in Mexico City.

Nine firms were shortlisted from 54 entries by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO).

They are: Aecom with Snohetta; Allied Works Architecture; Antoine Predock Architect with Moody-Nolan; Diller Scofidio & Renfro; Ennead Architects; Miller Hull Partnership; Morphosis Architects; Skidmore Owings and Merrill; and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.

They will now be asked to submit detailed information about their teams and qualifications.

The design/bid/build project is scheduled to start on site in 2015.

It is the first project procured under OBO’s new design excellence programme which considers “purpose, function, flexibility, art, safety, security, sustainability, and maintainability”.