PANSTADIA & ARENA MANAGEMENT SHOWCASE SPECIAL 2015
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? There’s a gap in some projects between costs and potential revenue. Arena Projekt believes the arena developer’s role is to develop realistic goals based on practical experience of arena operation.
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ew people know about the services offered by Swedish company ArenaProjekt. But those who do, tend to have gained a new perspective on arena construction. Meet boisterous, good-humoured Chief Executive Sven-Åke Wikers, who’s set out to bring about change to a significantly conservative business.
“It should come naturally to each and every person that we constantly must strive for improvement. But if you always choose to do things the same way, nothing will ever change.”
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Wikers speaks about the global conditions for arena development with unmistakable passion. According to him, the fundamental problem is that few people are aware of what an arena developer actually does. “During the tender process, the arena developer falls into the same category as the architect, which can mean that the client misses out on an advisor and the architect on a great partner.”
Wikers wants to emphasise the latter: the arena developer is not the architect’s enemy. “Architects have a tremendous expertise when it comes to construction engineering, plan design and project visualisation. But they rarely have the practical experience from these types of projects. What we contribute is hands-on experience from all aspects of an arena. That way, the plans and the budget will
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be accurate from day one – both when it comes to construction costs and earnings potential.” Staffan Littmarck, Sourcing Manager for Uppsala Event Center in mid-Sweden, knows this first-hand. He says that ArenaProjekt has acted as a facilitator between him and the contractor. “Mr Wikers clearly knows about bleacher design, but he can also tell the best possible way for visitors to get to and from their seats – with their hands full of popcorn and soda.” Littmarck likes to stress that visiting an arena is a multi-faceted experience. Being too myopic about the functional aspects of a venue can lead to problems. He says that a narrow-minded client won’t be able to maximise project potential, nor take full advantage of the benefits that ArenaProjekt’s services offer.
“It’s important to realise that the entertainment space is very competitive. People may choose to go to a soccer match instead of going to the cinema or go bowling.” However, Littmarck is confident that stakeholders are on their way to understanding the value of a well-planned facility, not only for its users but also for its visitors. “We’re competing for people’s time and money. If you cannot deliver an all-around amazing experience, you’ll go out of business. It doesn’t matter what type of entertainment you offer.” Despite having opened up to a wider variety of events, many arenas are deep into the red. One explanation may be severely underestimated: construction costs. Wikers chuckles and mentions a project where the differential between
ArenaProjekt’s estimate and the original estimate amounted to 25 million Euros. According to him, BIM is key to achieve the correct results. “To me, BIM represents a building information model, not a 3D model. Do you realise the difference? A 40-yard wall may be divided and consist of masonry, prefab elements or plaster. But in an architectural model, it often shows up as a simple, straight line.” Wikers is of the opinion that, by now, more people in the business ought to understand that different estimates lead to different results. “I’m not claiming that it’s easy, but an estimate that takes each and every piece of construction material into account will be more exact than one based on square metres and reference numbers.”
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PANSTADIA & ARENA MANAGEMENT SHOWCASE SPECIAL 2015 He recalls a client who asked for a second opinion about a new project. The estimate just seemed a bit off the mark. It turned out that the proposal had too many superstructures and a cost estimate based on reference numbers. “Superstructures are very costly and produce zero revenue,” explains Wikers. ArenaProjekt’s calculations showed that the project would end up seven million Euros over budget, and when the tenders came in, ArenaProjekt’s error margin landed at only 500,000 Euros. “BIM provides up to 20 per cent more information to base a decision on, which means that the total cost is usually reduced by about 10 per cent. In addition, there will be no unpleasant surprises.” However, accurate project estimates – as opposed to optimistic ones – aren’t always appreciated, Wikers says with a deep sigh. It may seem odd, but he can empathise with such reasoning: “The risk of a project being cancelled at the planning stage is not attractive to a client who’s already dreaming about its completion. But once preliminary or concept design has begun, it’s almost always completed – even if the original calculations prove to be wrong. This is one of the great challenges that people like me face.” Indeed, but how many arena developers are there, really? Wikers thinks for a moment. A long moment. A US company with a similar service offering comes to mind, but that’s it. Except for some architects that have taken on the role – with mixed results, he adds. Henrik Lundin, Business Manager at NCC Construction Sweden, also has to search his mind for quite a while before answering:
“If more companies offered these services, arena project planning would be higher on the agenda. That’s why it’s great that the Americans are doing it,” says Wikers and continues: “At the same time, we’re not in competition with each other. My skills are based on a professional career spent working on all aspects of a multi-purpose arena, and I have learned tremendously from failures.”
of good planning. When an addition was considered in the mid-2000s, he consulted ArenaProjekt.
A number of years ago, Wikers was the CEO of a team that played in the Swedish Hockey League.
“It’s a huge success. Almost every single match is sold out and the arena is so popular that we decided to remove some camera spots in order to make room for more fans.”
“We were once given a great opportunity. A TV channel had an opening and asked us if we wanted our match broadcast live. Of course we said yes, but they ended up picking a different match at another arena, despite us having a much hotter team. It turned out that the broadcast conditions in our home venue were so awful that the TV crew would rather travel to the other end of the country.” In southern Sweden, there’s an arena where the camera positions have been removed, but not due to poor conditions. As project manager for a handball arena in Kristianstad, one of Sweden’s most handball-crazed towns, Anders Magnusson knows the value
“There are construction engineering consultants, operations and event management services. But there’s something missing in between. Naturally, as a major contractor, we have the capabilities to build big arenas – but there’s added value in Sven-Åke’s services, especially when it comes to building flow. He can tell you what will work and what won’t from a practical perspective, and that’s extremely valuable.” Is ArenaProjekt a niche service provider, or is there a step that’s frequently overlooked in arena development? A step that used to be superfluous but has become mandatory in a time when a wealth of experiences constantly compete for our attention? 84
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“Sven-Åke was very clear with his mantra: ‘sit well, see well, hear well’ – regardless of where you were in the arena.” Magnusson has walked around the new venue and tested all possible locations. He’s very pleased with the result.
The completed arena came in at about six million Euros under budget. “There are several reasons behind it; one is the support from ArenaProjekt, which enabled us to make wise decisions during the construction phase,” says Magnusson. It’s beyond doubt that Wikers is a man on a mission: to take the development of arenas and venues one step closer to perfection, where the human experience is key. Regardless of our entertainment preferences, he is determined to make a difference. Quite hard to argue with that, right? n