Nickelodeon is bringing its first branded FEC to the UK as Parques Reunidos and Viacom team up with intu to develop the attraction at Lakeside in Essex.

Viacom announced plans to partner with Parques Reunidos to bring Nickelodeon FECs to Europe in March, with the first of these opening in Spain in 2017.

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) – a division within Viacom – is managing the venture, which expands the existing partnership between the two companies following the success of Nickelodeon Land at Parque de Atracciones in Madrid and NickLand at Germany’s Movie Park.

Set to debut in 2018, the 50,000sq ft (4,600sq m) Nickelodeon FEC in Essex will be developed as part of Intu Lakeside's leisure-focused £95m (US$137m, €120m) extension.

Coming to intu Lakeside, one of the UK’s most popular shopping centres, the immersive and interactive FEC will include a number of adventure zones, dedicated spaces for younger children, multiple attractions and themed rooms for parties. The FEC will feature an array of Nickelodeon IPs including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Fairly OddParents.

“We are very pleased to continue applying our knowledge in the development and management of leisure parks to create these new family experiences in shopping centres and, particularly, of doing so in collaboration with Nickelodeon and intu,” said Fernando Eiroa, CEO of Parques Reunidos.

“Shopping centres have evolved into spaces where families spend time together and Parques Reunidos shares intu’s vision of transforming the experiences lived in these centres to make them into wonderful memories.”