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Purchased by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham A.F.C. is the third oldest professional football club and plays in the world’s oldest football stadium.
One stand in Wrexham’s stadium—known as STōK Cae Ras—was derelict and unused for many years. New plans were put in place to construct the new 5,500 seat Kop Stand as well as stadium revitalization projects for non-match days.
Ramboll was entrusted with providing MEP services, civil and structural engineering, and more.
Piloting BIM and GIS together for the first time, Ramboll showcased how leveraging BIM and GIS can support better collaboration between design and environmental teams. Use of BIM and GIS improved spatial accuracy, infrastructure integration, decision-making, and environmental impact.
Ramboll shares the benefits of using BIM and GIS together for the Wrexham A.F.C. stadium project.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney surprised the football world when they purchased Wrexham A.F.C. in 2020 for 2 million pounds—and it wasn’t a decision they took lightly. When their docuseries Welcome to Wrexham debuted in 2022, Reynolds told Forbes, “This is the third oldest professional football club on earth that plays in the oldest international stadium on earth. It is serious business to each and every person. I don't care whether you're five years old in Wrexham or you're 95 years old. There is a passion. Wrexham A.F.C. is running through the blood of every person out there. So, it's high stakes right from the get-go.”
Since their journey began, the Red Dragons have moved from the fifth tier of English football (the National League) to back-to-back promotions into League Two and now League One. But their ambitions for Wrexham aren’t just about football. It’s also going to have a positive impact on the Wrexham community as a whole.
One important component is to bring Wrexham’s stadium—known as STōK Cae Ras—back to its former glory and more with a holistic regeneration of the site, keeping social, economic, and environmental impact in mind.
The football stadium includes four stands, but one stand at Wrexham was derelict and unused since 2007. Ramboll was entrusted with MEP services, civil and structural engineering, and more for the construction of the new 5,500 capacity Kop Stand at Wrexham A.F.C. Club and efforts to revitalize both the stadium and surrounding area.
The stadium renovation is a long-term investment to achieve UEFA’s Category 4 status and host European and international games in the future. But there’s more to consider than just the seating. The club is thinking beyond match days with how the space can be used and make it a financial success by adding a hospitality suite, office and retail space, and an exhibition space for visitors. It also ties into the larger Wrexham Gateway project that seeks to improve local infrastructure, including a new transport hub, accommodation, and other facilities to help stimulate local economic growth and tourism.
Traditionally, Ramboll’s environmental and design teams were siloed with limited information exchange. The Wrexham A.F.C. project provided an opportunity to pilot the use of BIM and GIS together and experiment with new ways to bridge these communication, decision-making, and coordination gaps.
Typically, the designers work at a building level while GIS data and environmental disciplines are focused separately on the natural environment and data covering larger areas. By combining the two together, designers can ensure the stadium is accurately aligned with its surrounding environment, taking into account real-world terrain, infrastructure, and utilities. This is particularly crucial for large-scale stadium projects where the impact on the local area and the need for accurate site planning is significant.
“We wanted to break down those barriers in terms of how people work together and create better workflows,” says Poul Hededal, Group Director, Knowledge and Innovation, Ramboll. “We made this choice of using BIM and GIS very intentionally and driven by the belief that we could benefit from these two communities of practices. We don’t have to rely on the manual handover of information or data from one environment to the other since everything is in one place continuously updated and accessible to all teams.”
With the pilot and goals in mind, Ramboll began with their design tools of choice, using Autodesk Revit for digital construction of MEP, BIM coordination, and RIBA Stage 3 and 4 drawing production for structural. The team also took advantage of Autodesk Civil 3D to process the survey point cloud point models into IFC format.
With ArcGIS, Ramboll gained full access to accurate GIS information about the project’s existing conditions. Autodesk Construction Cloud* (ACC) extends access to the broader team, connecting field staff with designers and driving efficiency while improving the overall quality of their designs. The connection to ACC now brings geolocated data into the design process, helping to inform both design decisions and changes throughout the Wrexham A.F.C. project.
Using ACC as a common data environment allowed Ramboll to extend access of design data to the broader team, connecting field staff with designers and driving efficiency and improving the overall quality of their designs. With Esri’s ArcGIS, Ramboll gains full access to accurate GIS information about the project’s existing conditions.
The connection to ACC brings geolocated data into the design process, helping to inform design decisions and changes throughout the Wrexham A.F.C. project. ArcGIS Field Maps was used by environmental staff to capture field observations and ecological surveys. Logging issues with ArcGIS Field Maps as a new feature in ArcGIS GeoBIM was influential in Ramboll’s move to using the solution. The team further investigated the use of ArcGIS GeoBIM to bring design and GIS data together and further facilitate greater collaboration and project coordination.
“BIM and GIS in a common data environment improved collaboration,” says Joe Segretto, Geospatial Lead, Ramboll. “Whether something was generated from ArcGIS or created by an engineer or designer with Autodesk tools, internal and external stakeholders and colleagues can now work together more effectively, considering all the information available.”
—Sarah Widdowfield, E&H Digital Hub Manager, Ramboll
The new level of insights and access to data have made a huge difference for the Wrexham project. Acoustic surveys were conducted to ensure the noise level wouldn’t impact surrounding neighbors. The Ramboll team also did traffic surveys to see where people were traveling and the transportation connections.
“GIS data can provide insights into environmental factors such as geology and contaminated land, habitats, and any protected species,” Segretto says. “Everything was incorporated in the design for a view of what needed to be taken into account.”
When the data is integrated with BIM, designers can simulate how these factors will impact the stadium’s structure and operational performance. This allows for more informed decisions, from the visibility of the pitch in the hospitality area as well as the materials used in construction, ensuring better performance and fan experience.
GIS also helps assess the broader environmental impacts, such as its effect on local ecosystems or water drainage. By combining GIS with BIM, architects and engineers can incorporate green building techniques more effectively, making the stadium more energy-efficient and reducing its carbon footprint. This is crucial for meeting environmental standards and achieving sustainability goals.
—Chris Bowles, Digital Director, Ramboll
With BIM and GIS together, the entire team is on the same page in real time, no matter where they’re located. Even if they’re on site, they can capture real-time information, log issues, and incorporate it in the BIM model immediately. Data-driven insights such as live traffic information enable Ramboll to see the impact of a live match without even being at the game.
“We can access data through a connected data environment, viewing design data together with GIS data in a geographic context,” says Chris Bowles, Digital Director, Ramboll. “With access to the data in the BIM model, we can make design adjustments and suggestions for more positive outcomes. This breaks down the silos we once had, allowing us to share higher quality data more efficiently across the entire project team while adding perspectives that simply weren't possible in the past.”
*Ramboll executed the Wrexham A.F.C. project with Autodesk BIM 360. The capabilities of BIM 360 were eventually added as core components of the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) which launched in 2019. Today, Ramboll utilizes ACC for current projects.